On the Fence
by iwantsprezzatura
Summary: "Yeah, you know, word goes running, that..." "That what?" "That one of the Black brothers is not enough for you." - RegulusXOCXSirius - please read&review!
1. Prologue - September 1, 1972

"SLYTHERIN!"

I rose to my feet and didn't dare to even glance once to Gryffindor table, where he was sitting, where he would be terribly disappointed because he had wanted me to be rebellious, the same way he had been.

I sat down next to my brother Evan and smiled shyly. He would never guess that I was sad in fact. He didn't know me well enough. My eyes flickered up and met the suspicious glance of Regulus Black. That of course was another matter.

"Don't let him get to you," he advised. "He's the one who is in the wrong house."

I nodded, insecurely. My parents would be proud after all. I was a pureblood. All my family had been in Slytherin. This was where I belonged.


	2. September 30, 1976

**Hello everybody. Thanks for making it through the ridiculously short prologue and ending up here, Chapter 1. I apologize for any linguistic mistakes, because I'm not a native English speaker, so please don't take it bad on me :)**

**I'll state it now, so that we're all on the same page: I do not own Harry Potter, any of the original characters, places, etc, etc. Who would've thought?**

* * *

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?"

Sirius had trapped me between himself and the wall, his arms on either side of my head, grey eyes boring into brown.

"Lestrange, seriously?"

"What's wrong with him, huh?"

"Maybe, just maybe, he's only an arrogant arsehole – pureblood-maniac and..."

"And what? What, Sirius, what?"

"You're just with him because he's suitable, ain't you?"

I tried to pull myself together. This was Sirius after all! I had known him for years – childhood friends and stuff. Now, any relationship I had with Lestrange really was nothing I was willing to discuss with him. "None of your business."

He frowned. "You are... Keep away from him – from them, the whole lot. It's so easy; I do it all the time..."

"And how does that work out for you? Reg's not even looking at you anymore..."

"Well, who cares what my brother's looking at."

"We were friends," I told him, now getting seriously upset. "The three of us have been friends! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

I pushed his arms away and moved past him.

"Selene..."

I turned around once again. "WHAT?"

"You just promise me to be careful?"

"Oh, beg you – it's not like he's going to rape me, is it?"

"Well – I don't really know, I guess."

I glared at him for even thinking that it was possible that my boyfriend would rape me – which I was sure he wouldn't – but he simply laughed it off. Now that I thought about it, Sirius laughed most of his problems off.

"Now, if you don't mind, I have to go..."

"Whatever gave you the impression I would mind?"

I rolled my eyes. "Goodbye, Sirius."

By now, I was actually quite late and I had to hurry to be in time for Potions. I slid into the room only seconds before the bell rang.

Slughorn winked at me and smiled and I only managed to give a small nod to the Potions master before I fell down in my chair, next to the brother of the very boy that had caused my unpunctuality.

"You're late."

"I know and it's not my fault."

"Let me guess – my darling brother?"

I just nodded sharply and forced my attention to Professor Slughorn who babbled over some potion that we were obviously going to brew.

"He sure asked you about Rabastan?"

"I don't know what the issue is with you guys. Rab's really nice..."

"Yeah, the thing is, although I really hate to agree with my brother – we know how guys our age think. It's not always nice and..."

I groaned. "I know how guys think, thank you very much..."

He didn't even react to my interruption and just picked up his phrase again. "And Rabastan Lestrange is not really known for his gentlemanly behaviour."

I didn't want to keep this discussion going but I could see in his face that I wouldn't get away with it. "All right, here's the thing: I'll be careful, okay? I already promised Sirius..."

"I don't care what you promised Sirius."

My eyes met his. When we were still younger – before we went to Hogwarts, that is – Regulus, Sirius and I were inseparable. We were the best of friends, even though Sirius and Reg had various disagreements. When Sirius went to Hogwarts – it increased when we followed him the year after – it all changed. Sirius had decided to break with tradition or as he would put it nowadays _to give a fuck about what my mum wants_ and went straight to Gryffindor. Unfortunately that was no option for neither Reg nor me and their relationship had moved from slightly stressed brotherhood to pure enmity.

"I promised that I would be careful," I finished. "So, I hope that's enough for you, too, 'cause you won't get anything better."

"That's it?" he asked, obviously not pleased.

"That's it," I murmured and he sighed heavily.

"You really are stubborn."

"I just know what I want. I'm a Slytherin, after all."

* * *

As I sat down on Slytherin table, my boyfriend – the one and only Rabastan Lestrange – gave me a rather sloppy kiss on the cheek. After all, Reg was probably right when he said Rabastan didn't actually behave like a true gentleman.

"How's it going?"

"What do you want to know?" I murmured.

"Some random gossip that'll completely bore me. That's the way it works, you know? I get to talk about the fastest brooms for revenge."

I laughed. I couldn't exactly say I didn't like him, though. I liked him well enough. And he was hell of a good kisser.

"Had some sort of argument with Black earlier."

"Which one?"

"...Both, I guess."

"About what, huh? I don't like how they cling to you... the Gryffindor one, especially."

"We're old friends," I reasoned, certainly for the hundredst time. "And it was about you, obviously. Apparently, they're afraid you'd rape me or something..."

He laughed and then leaned over to whisper in my ear. "But I would love to ravish you properly..."

I slapped him playfully. "Sure you would."

"So, what did you tell them?"

"To mind their own business." Well, at least I had tried.

Calliope and Maia suddenly sat down across from us. "Hi there, lovebirds, mind if we cut in?"

I shook my head. It was better if Rab didn't investigate further. He didn't like the Blacks anyway – Sirius even less than his brother – and I didn't want to make it worse.

"Are you going to that Hogsmeade trip that's coming up?"

"Is there one?" I muttered and shot Rab a quick glance. We hadn't been together for long and we had never been to Hogsmeade together.

"Sure there is! Merlin, don't you read the announcements?"

I shrugged, my eyes still locked on Rab, who didn't register it at all. He made my staring unnecessary, though, as he said: "Sure we go. What did you think?"

Callie giggled and Maia shrugged. "Don't know. Wasn't sure, though. But as you are all lovey-dovey and stuff..."

I rolled my eyes. I could tell from the look on Rab's face that they were boring him by now. Most of the younger girls did, actually, I counted myself extremely lucky. Rab was already in seventh year and would pass his N.E.W.T.s by the end of term. Most of the time, the older Slytherins stuck to themselves.

"If you don't mind – I'll go to the library. McGonagall is really mad, all these essays that we have to do..."

"Sure, darling, see you at dinner?"

"Sure." He gave me a rather absentminded goodbye-kiss and then he was gone. I sighed and turned to my girlfriends. He really was no gentleman.

"So, Hogsmeade – what are you going to do?"

"I don't know. The same as always? Run around in the shops until we get tired and cold, so we go to the Three Broomsticks?"

"Couldn't you be a little more creative?"

I shot Callie a warning glance. She was always very creative when it came to planning dates and it was not always for the better.

"I think I'd like it plain simple. He'd like that better, too."

"He's boring."

"No, he's not. He's just not the complicated type."

"A little diverted, though – sure, sure, that's the only thing that ever comes out of his mouth..."

I glared at Maia. "That's not even true. He has to work a lot, that's it – for his N.E.W.T.s, you know..."

"Yeah, yeah, N.E.W.T.s, I get that, but still..."

I shook my head. "Now, you both stop! I've had enough of the Rab's-no-good-talk today. Stop it!" I jumped to my feet and grabbed my back.

"Oh, Selene, it's okay, we didn't mean to..."

"Well, I did..."

"At least I didn't mean to..."

* * *

The Slytherin common room was full and filled with loud noises. Sirius would never believe that it could actually be comfortable down here. Then again, I didn't even want to imagine sleeping without the various sounds the lake provided us with.

I sat on a large couch next to Callie. Maia warmed her hands at the fireplace. She was the only one of us to have chosen Care for Magical Creatures and had only just returned from "extra-work" a.k.a. feeding some particular disgusting animals. Or whatever they were.

Regulus sat in an armchair and eyed her amusedly while she tried to defreeze. "You need to explain that to me again – what's so fun about these creatures?"

"There's nothing fun about these particular ones..." She glared at him. "There are some interesting creatures, though..."

"Yeah, I've never heard of those..."

Callie and I started laughing, and Maia shuddered. "No, seriously, I'd love to freeze for... let's say unicorns. Or hippogriffs. But no, we're apparently not ready for that."

We all laughed.

"Obviously, you gonna quit it after the O.W.L.s?"

"Well, I'll have to have some courses, after all..."

I sighed. "I'm so looking forward to getting rid of all these unnecessary subjects. Sirius said..."

Reg's face fell and I hushed at once. Though he seemed extremely angered, he was not in the mood to let it go.

"Yeah? What? What did the traitor say?"

"Traitor?" I asked. "What do you mean?"

"Haven't you heard? He ran away from home. Got disowned."

I stared at him, speechless for some moments, while Maia and Callie started babbling and giggling about this news.

"Disowned?" I whispered. "He never even mentioned..."

"Well, that's no surprise. He must be ashamed."

"I doubt that." Sirius, of all people, wouldn't be ashamed about getting disowned. He would probably be proud of it. "But... where did he go?"

"How should I know? It's not like I followed him."

"And you didn't ask him?"

"No, why?"

"Because... because he's your brother!"

Reg scoffed. "I don't have a brother."

I jumped up. "Blasting a picture of a wall doesn't change your blood!"

* * *

**So there you go. Tell me what you think - any siblings yourself? Hate or love ;)? Tell me in a review and have yourself a lovely day.**


	3. Halloween, 1976

**I would like to thank everyone who read, fav'd, alerted and especially the four people who reviewed. It's greatly appreciated :)**

**"ausumist" asked me which year they're in, so I'd like to clarify: It's Sirius' sixth year, Reg's and Selene's fifth year.**

**I don't think that I have anything else to say, so without further ado, here's Chapter 2**

* * *

Hogsmeade trip was uneventful at first. We spent it like I had foreseen it, visiting all the usual shops – Honeydukes, Zonko's – and finally ended up in the Three Broomsticks as it was quite cold. Rab and I were soon joined by Maia who had left Callie and her boyfriend because they were just "_too cute_". We laughed a little at them, but Rab soon got bored and started reading his Transfiguration book (I would never know why he had brought it in the first place).

The door opened once again and I froze. Sirius entered, followed by his three best friends. James Potter, of course, the typical arrogant Gryffindor. Remus Lupin, who seemed like he was a nice guy. And Peter Pettigrew. Never knew much about that one.

I stood up and murmured: "Just a second" as Maia stared at me questioningly.

I reached the four boys as they just sat down at the last free table. "Sirius? Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Rosier! Why do you bother us on such a beautiful day?"

"Didn't talk to you, Potter. Sirius?"

He leant back in his chair and smirked. "They can hear anything that you have to say – go ahead."

I frowned. He was such a prick when he was with his friends. "Very well – Reg told me you got disowned."

"He told you? I would've thought they would draw a veil of silence."

"Sort of slipped, I guess. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Now, why would he tell _you_, Rosier?"

I glared at Potter and Lupin murmured: "Let it go, Prongs."

I shook my head and returned my gaze to Sirius. "I'm honestly concerned. How are you coping?"

"Good. Mr and Mrs Potter were so friendly to..."

"You live with the Potters?" I ask, a bit stupidly. I shouldn't have been surprised, though. They were best friends after all.

"Got a problem with that?"

"Quite the contrary, Potter. I'm glad he's not living underneath some bridge."

"That would be better than being at home, though," he murmured and Potter laughed. "I'd bet on that."

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked once again.

Potter groaned and that was when I snapped.

"What the hell is your problem, Potter?"

"The fact that you're bothering us on an up until now totally fine day."

I searched Sirius' eyes for support, but he merely grinned.

"Fine. Sorry that I care."

I turned around and rushed towards Rab and Maia. "We're leaving."

They stared at me, bewildered, but I didn't double-check if they were coming. I left and trusted them to be right behind me.

"Hey, Selene, what's the matter...?"

Maia tried to grab my robes and I whirled around, my wand already raised.

"Woah! Merlin, what are you doing?"

"I'M IN A RAGE!" I didn't even wait for her answer and turned around to get back to the castle as soon as I could.

* * *

"What are you even doing here?"

I didn't turn around as I heard his voice. "I wanted to be alone."

Maybe he would take the hint.

"And that's why you go to a room full of owl shit?"

"Did you ever take a look out of the window, there? It's a beautiful view, that's why."

"What happened?"

"What do you think has happened, Reg?"

"I think that Sirius was his usual arsehole-self and that you let him get to you."

"Know what really gets to me? That you don't care about him at all!"

He sighed heavily and I turned around to watch him.

"It's not that easy."

I shook my head. "It's not right. You should be... you should be brothers. You should care about each other and – and stick together. That's how it's supposed to be. And it hurts to watch you ruining it all, completely oblivious..."

"Sirius was always..."

"Both of you!" I interrupted harshly. I turned away from him to the window and he went to stand next to me. "You're right. You're probably right. But you know, Sirius did run away from home and my mother did forbid me to talk to him and actually – he didn't talk to me either."

I shook my head once again. "You're both so stubborn!"

He grinned. "It's the genes."

I laughed weakly. "Yeah, I guess."

He sighed. "Come on – we should go back to the feast, huh? You don't want to miss out on it, do you?"

I nodded and followed him out of the owlery.

* * *

Monday morning started with a double period of Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall explained that we would now start with Vanishing Spells, which were a big part of the O.W.L.s. Maia, Callie and I were trying more than hard to do it, but we were simply failing. I had never been good in Transfiguration.

"_Evanesco!_" I pointed my wand at the snail. Nothing happened. I sighed heavily. "It'll never work."

Maia shook her head. "If you ask me – I think it's impossible."

Usually, I wouldn't have bothered so much. I would've searched for Sirius in the next few days and would've begged him to help me. He, in contrast to me, was quite skilled in Transfiguration. But I was still angry at him and I surely wouldn't talk to him with his friends around anymore. And he was _always_ around his friends.

Callie cleared her throat. "_Evanesco!_" Again, nothing happened. She leaned forward. "It's a little paler, isn't it?"

Maia giggled and stared at the snail. "No, sorry, I don't really think so."

By the end of the lesson, we still hadn't managed to do it.

We left the classroom and parted. Callie and Maia were going to Divination while I had Study of Ancient Runes. I wasn't in a hurry, though. Professor Babbling was usually quite late.

I was still quite occupied with my thoughts of Transfiguration as I suddenly bumped into someone. I shrieked and looked up. Severus Snape, a sixth year Slytherin groaned as he kneeled down to pick up his books. I hurried to help him. "I'm so sorry..."  
"Don't worry, happens all the time."

I frowned. "Someone bumps into you all the time?"

He got up and sighed. "No. But... uh... oh, never mind."

What he meant – I supposed – was that probably Potter and his friends made him pick up his books all the time. I pitied him. Why couldn't they just leave him alone? From all I knew, he seemed to be nice.

"Yeah, so – sorry, again, Severus." I handed him the books that I had picked up. "Why are you carrying them anyway?"

"Oh – uh – my bag sort of..."

I realized that there was a huge hole in his back. "Let me guess – Potter?"

"No. Black."

I sighed heavily. They were such idiots. "Alright, there you go. _Reparo_!" I murmured and the gap closed. I still wondered why he hadn't done it himself – after all, this was an absolutely easy spell.

"Why, thank you!"

"No problem. That's for bumping into you."

He nodded, murmured something that I didn't get and then hurried off. I shook my head. I didn't understand why they always had to go after him!

What had he done to them, after all? They just didn't like him because he was a Slytherin! I sighed heavily and then realized that I was already late. Running, I made my way to Ancient Runes.

* * *

"Studying, missy?"

I looked up and sighed. "Sirius, what do you want?"

"Just saw you sitting here and decided to talk to you."

I scoffed and turned my gaze back to the book. "You never go to the library for studying. So, what do you want?"

He sat down across from me. "What are you working on?"

"Searching for advice on Vanishing Spells."

"Why didn't you ask me?"

I shot him a cold glance. "Didn't want to bother you."

"You shouldn't pay so much attention to what James says."

"I don't pay any attention to Potter. But you seemed to share his opinion."

"Okay, look, you know what they will say when they see me being anyhow close to a Slytherin..."

"Close to?" I shut the book and stared up at him. "I didn't ask you to marry me; I wanted to know how you're doing! And I thought you were brave enough..."

He sighed. "Okay, look, I'm sorry."

"I don't believe that until you actually behave like friends do."

"Listen, Selene..."

I shook my head. "I just told your brother – you're both so..."

"What? What about me is like my darling brother?"

"A whole lot, actually – he's still your family, Sirius."

"That's not a very comforting thought, though."

I smiled softly. "Maybe one day you'll find that it actually is."

He groaned. "You really are annoying."

I raised my eyebrows. "You came here to talk to me."

"Oh, right – how are things going with Lestrange?"

"Really? That's why you came here?"

"I'm worried..."

"Yeah, you don't need to be." I got up and grabbed my things. "Oh – what I forgot. I met Severus today. Why do you always have to go after him, huh? And destroying his bag, can't you do better?"

He grinned mischievously. "Look, okay, old Snivellus is just..."

"No!" I said harshly. I wasn't in the mood to laugh with him over bullying someone. "It's not okay."

I moved past him, but he grabbed my arm. "Are you angry at me now?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I think I am."

"Great! Why don't you just go and let my stupid brother comfort you!"

"You know what – maybe I'll do that."

I stormed out of the library, finally leaving him behind.

* * *

**I'd love it if you took the time to review :)**


	4. November 3, 1976

**I'm a day early this week because I'll be working over the weekend (holiday camp for confirmands). Anyways, I'd like to thank everyone who read, fav'd, alerted and especially the ones who reviewed.**

* * *

I giggled as Rab dragged me along with him. "Where are we going?"

He chuckled. "It doesn't matter."

He looked around and then he pulled me into an abandoned classroom and closed the door. At once, his lips descended on mine. I chuckled. "Ah, I see..."

He deepened the kiss and lifted me up to sit me down on a near-by table.

His lips left mine and he trailed kisses down my neck. I chuckled and tried to redirect his lips back to mine, but he wouldn't oblige. Instead he suckled at my pulse-point, making me gasp.

But then I felt his fingers lightly trail up my thighs and I struggled a little. "Rab..." I whispered, but he didn't care.

Before I knew it, his hands were underneath my skirt. I tried to grip his hand, but he held my arms back, his lips still never leaving my skin.

"Rab – Rab, stop," I begged softly.

He didn't care.

"Rab, stop it right now!"

I gave a small shriek as he touched me – he shouldn't be, this wasn't right.

"STOP IT NOW!"

He suddenly pressed a hand over my mouth. "Don't be such a prude!"

I struggled, but could now neither move nor scream. I tried to think about where my wand was and remembered that I had left it – along with all my stuff – in the common room. What kind of witch was I?

All of a sudden, the door burst open and a familiar voice shouted: "_Stupefy!_"

Rabastan collapsed on top of me and I gasped.

"Are you okay?"

"Sure. Care to help me here?"

Reg pulled him off of me and let him drop to the floor with a disgusted look. Then his eyes returned to me and his expression softened. "Told you so."

I was too relieved to care. "Thank you, Reg."

"Oh, don't mention it."

I got up and looked at Rabastan lying on the floor. "We should wake him up."

"Why? We should let him lay there and..."

"Because then, he'll wake up and go straight to a teacher and frame you. We need to sort that out."

He didn't seem too thrilled at the idea.

"Would you borrow me your wand?"

He sighed, but handed it to me. "Are you sure?"

"As sure as I can be," I murmured. I kneeled down next to Rab and muttered: "_Enervate_."

He gasped and tried to sit up.

"Ah, no, no – you should keep lying for a while."

Rabastan stared at me wide-eyed. "What the... what have you done?"

"Me? Nothing. Rab, listen – here's what we are gonna do. You'll keep your mouth shut on how Reg here stunned you – and you stay away from me. In exchange, I won't tell..."

"Who? McGonagall? Dumbledore? I'm not afraid!"

"Your parents."

He stared at me and I knew that I had him exactly where I wanted him. "You wouldn't dare to!"

"Oh, don't get me wrong – I'll tell them if I have to. If you mention to anybody that Reg actually stunned you or if you don't stay away from me."

He growled, not answering. I sighed. "Very well. In this case, I'll go straight to the owlery and..."

"NO!" he interrupted me harshly. "Okay – okay, look – we...we'll do it as you said."

I smiled coldly. "Of course. As I said."

* * *

"If that Lestrange bastard so much as looks at you again..."

"Let it go, Reg, it doesn't help anything."

He groaned. "I don't get you! How can you be so calm... he...he..."

"Yes, and you saved me, thank Merlin."

He turned to me and trapped me between himself and the wall, his arms on either side of my head. I stared at him.

"Seriously? You'll just let him get away with that?"

Something felt odd about the situation...he was so close and he... when exactly had he grown like that? I remembered ragging on him for being even smaller than me and now he was a reasonable bit taller than me...

"Why, yes, what do you think I would do?"

"Well...he, oh... I don't know."

I bit my lip and then whispered, less harsh than before: "Thanks for helping me out, Reg."

He nodded and my eyes met his. Then he suddenly leant forward to brush my lips with his. It lasted so short, I didn't even get to close my eyes. He stared at me with wide eyes.

I managed to smile. "You may want to repeat that, huh? Just to make sure it really happ..."

I was cut short by his lips crashing down on mine, for good this time.

* * *

I did my best to ignore Regulus. Ever since we had kissed the other night, it was strange. I had told nobody about it and it didn't seem like he had. Potions class was the worst because of this. We were sitting next to each other, trying hard not to even look at one another. I tried hard to get the Strengthening Solution correctly brewed, but I was so distracted by my thoughts that it probably wouldn't work.

Slughorn was inspecting the potions of some others students on the other side of the classroom. I didn't even want to think about what he would say when he would see my poor excuse of a brewing. It didn't exactly have the right colour.

"Hey."

I jumped as I heard Reg's voice next to me. When exactly had we skipped the we-don't-talk-part?

"Huh?"

"Do you still have some of these powdered claws? Cause I sort of..."

I nodded quickly and handed him the jar with the claws. "There you go."

"Thanks."

I bit my lip and then murmured: "Listen, Reg..."

"We should just forget it, okay? Like... we are friends, it would be – weird. Let's just pretend it never happened."

I stared at him. Pretend like it never happened? "But it did," I answered softly. "And you know that neither I nor you will ever forget about that."

He shrugged. "Well, in this case..."

"Let's just say it happened. And – it meant nothing. It was just..."

"An accident."

"Exactly."

We nodded at each other and I turned my attention back to my cauldron. The potion had just taken a colour that most definitely wasn't right. I sighed heavily.

"Professor Slughorn, Sir!"

He hurried over to me and frowned at whatever it was that was in my cauldron.

"I just wanted to make sure that it's not going to explode or something..."

* * *

I paid the owl that had brought me the _Prophet_. The Knut that it cost was most definitely worth it. I sighed and started to read over the headlines to get an overview.

"Anything new?" Maia asked and I shrugged.

"The usual stuff. Some people missing – some muggles dead – ugh, some been tortured..."

Maia sighed heavily. "This is horrible."

I nodded and got into the details of an article concerning the murder of some muggles close to Manchester.

"Did they get them?"

I jumped and turned around, just to see how Sirius sat down right next to me.

"W-what? What do you want, anyway?"

"I'm behaving like friends do," he said in the most innocent voice. Coming from Sirius, that was never a good sign. "Are you done with that article?"

"No. No, I'm not."

He sighed heavily. Maia shook her head at him. "You should go. If Regulus sees you here..."

"Then what? What is he going to do?"

She shrugged, intimidated. "I'm just saying..."

He turned his head back to me. "So – what do I hear? You and Lestrange broke up? Finally realized he's a jerk?"

"You have no idea," I murmured.

"Oh, beg you. Don't tell me that he left you."

"No, no – let's just say it was sort of... a mutual agreement."

Sirius growled. "At least you finally got rid of that idiot."

"Yeah, you're right."

He laughed his barking laugh. "Why couldn't you do that before?"

"Because _before_ I had no reason to."

His eyes narrowed. "There is something that you don't tell me."

"She doesn't need to tell you."

Sirius growled dangerously and I turned around with a sigh. The look in Reg's eyes was murderous.

"Well, _Regulus_, maybe she could decide that for herself."

"He's right," I murmured. "I won't tell you."

I folded the journal to put it in my back and got up, nodding in Maia's direction.

"You should leave, _Sirius_," Reg said coldly. "You're at the wrong table. And most of the Slytherins aren't very friendly on everything that concerns you."

"And with most Slytherins, you of course mean yourself."

"Sirius," I whispered. "He's right. You should leave."

He growled. "You're such a coward."

"I just know what's good for me. I'm a Slytherin, after all."

Sirius glared at me and then went to sit at the Gryffindor table. I took a deep breath.

"What did he want?"

"None of your business, Reg."

He glared at me and once more, I felt that these two were really more alike than they would ever admit.

* * *

**I'd love to come back on Sunday and find some reviews. Pretty please?**


	5. December 8, 1976

**I'm back for the fourth chapter :) Thanks to everyone who read, fav'd, alerted and especially to those who reviewed. As I'm talking about that:  
WIND: you wondering about who she'll choose is sort of the point of the story ;) So I won't tell you - but I guess you already knew that.**

**On with the story:**

* * *

"Look, Slytherins, I'll hang out the list right here and I'll recollect it tomorrow, please sign in if you're staying!"

I watched Slughorn pinning the list to the wall and then moving out of the common room. I shook my head. Usually, there weren't many Slytherins that stayed at Hogwarts during the Christmas break.

"Hey," Maia said suddenly. "Why is Regulus staying?"

I spun around in my armchair and stared in surprise as Reg wrote his name on the list. In fact, this was most curious. Reg always, _always_ stayed with his parents.

"Reg!" I yelled and he turned around to look at me.

"Selene!"

"Come over here for a second."

He sighed and then went over to me. "What's up?"

"You're not going home for Christmas? Everything okay?"

He sighed once again. "You haven't heard? Obviously, your parents are not informing you very well."

"What are you on about?"

"Hell's breaking loose at home. My uncle Alphard – do you remember him?"

"Sure, nice guy."

"Yeah," Reg murmured. "He's dead."

"Oh Merlin, I'm sorry!"

Reg bit his lip and shrugged. "The point is – he left a rather large sum to Sirius and... well, you can imagine. I heard my mother blasted Alphard off the wall."

I stared blankly at him.

"Means if I go home, I'll have to listen to her curses about blood-traitors and I'll have to repeat every single word Sirius said to me the last semester and..."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it."

He sighed heavily. "I never thought I wouldn't like to go home... But I'll have to let them cool down before..."

I nodded once again.

"You're probably_ not_ staying?"

"Nah, you know my mum, she'd kill me if I didn't come home for the holidays."

He forced a smile and I sighed. "I'm sorry – but there are certainly others that are staying..."

"The only one who signed in up until now is Azalee Bulstrode. How is that helping?"

Maia chuckled and I shrugged. "Okay, now, she doesn't look _that_ bad."

Reg suddenly had a strange look in his eyes and then sighed. "Well, I suppose she doesn't – still..." And he murmured something that I didn't understand.

"You'll survive."

"I'm quite sure you're right." Obviously, he wasn't too happy to have to stay alone. Considering his dislike for staying, going home had to be a really, r_eally _bad option.

"Again, I'm sorry," I murmured.

He made a face. "You'll have to excuse me," he suddenly said, his eyes fixed on something or someone he just seemed to have spotted over my shoulder.

"What...?" I asked, turning half around to see what he was looking at.

"None of your business," he snapped and took off.

I stared open-mouthed and needed a few moments to regain composure. "My," I murmured. "That was a little harsh."

Maia frowned at me. "Say, Selene – is there something you haven't told me?"

"What are you hinting at?"

She shrugged. "He's acting so strange around you these days... I mean, first, he obviously wants you to stay over for Christmas – to keep him company, or what? – and then he suddenly gets like this... you have to admit that was a little strange."

I swallowed. She couldn't know, could she? She wouldn't suspect? "Maybe yes, maybe no – he's always been sort of strange."

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "There's something you don't tell me – just wait. I'll find out."

She suddenly lifted herself half of her chair and yelled: "CALLIE! OVER HERE!"

Mere seconds later, we were joined by the dark-haired girl. "There you are. Hadn't spotted you over here..."

"You're quite late..."

"It's just curfew-"

"Yeah," Maia giggled. "That's basically what I said."

Callie smiled a little guiltily. "Ah, you know – Basil and I were a little..."

"Preoccupied!" Maia and I ended her sentence. Being _preoccupied_ had been her circumscription for meeting, snogging (and shagging, probably) her boyfriend in abandoned classrooms for the last couple of months.

"Right," she murmured, turning slightly pink. "You both are just jealous!"

I grunted. After the incident with Rabastan I was currently anything but jealous.

Maia frowned at me. "You never told us how things ended with Rabastan... better said why you ended it."

"Well," I snapped. "None of your business!" I jumped up and stormed off, and the last thing I heard of them was how Maia murmured: "If you ask me, she and Regulus..."

* * *

"Hey! Hey, Selene, wait a second!"

I jumped slightly and turned around to face the owner of this much too familiar voice. "I told you to stay away from me, Rabastan."

"Yes, yes, I know, I just wanted to have a word..."

"That's not possible, I'm afraid. You are to keep your distance. Actually, you're already invading my personal space." Or rather, the extended area of personal space that I had set up for him.

"Please, Selene, just a second."

I groaned. "Very well, spit it out."

"It's rather private, I would prefer..."

"I'm not going to be alone with you."

He frowned. "Come on, you can..."

"I can what?" I sneered. "Trust you? Actually, no, I can't. You proved that quite impressively."

"I'm sorry about that - I just got... carried away..."

"If you wanted to apologize, I'm sorry. Apology not accepted."

I turned around and he grabbed my wrist, just to shrink back at once. While talking to him, my hand had instinctively searched for my wand. Now, it was pointed directly at his face.

"Back off, Lestrange, now."

He held up both his hands and took two steps back. "Listen, Selene, I didn't mean to..."

"Go bother someone else with your hollow apologies."

"No, no, you don't get it. I wanted to..." He looked around, scanning if there was someone overhearing our conversation. Unfortunately, there was nobody.

"With the holidays coming up, I wondered... You'll keep your end of the deal, won't you?"

My eyes widened slightly. "My end of the deal?" I repeated.

"Yes - I mean... you won't tell? My parents or... whoever you meet..."

I decided to play dumb. "I really don't know who you are talking about."

He growled lowly. "I'm talking about – my brother. Or my deranged sister-in-law."

I raised an eyebrow. "Now that I think about it – you didn't exactly keep your distance."

His expression became filled with fear. "No – no, Selene, don't, I beg you..."

I laughed a little. "You really think I would tell anybody? I'm actually keeping my promises... and why in hell would I actually tell _Bellatrix_, huh?"

She was my cousin, granted, but I never had an explicitly good relationship with her. He had a point there – she sort of made a deranged impression.

He shrugged, but seemed oddly relieved. "I don't know, I just..."

"You were just afraid. It's sort of cute, actually, that you would be afraid of your brother's wife, for crying out loud - a woman."

"You have no idea how she is." He shuddered involuntarily and I couldn't suppress the grin forming on my face.

"How nice of you to share that information with me, Rabastan," I said sweetly. "I'll sure make good use of it."

His face fell a little, but then he shrugged. "As long as you don't tell her."

He had me really surprised there. "That bad?" I asked.

"As I said, you have no idea."

I put my wand away. "I have Transfiguration, now, if you'll excuse me."

He nodded and murmured something about Potions. As I was already half down the hallway, I turned around once more.

"Oh, and Rabastan?"

He whirled around at once, with almost a hopeful expression on his face.

"In the future, keep your distance – or I know who exactly to tell."

His face fell and he nodded gloomily. I turned around and headed for Transfiguration, very satisfied with myself.

* * *

**Tell me what you think, please. It would be greatly appreciated :)**


	6. December 23, 1976

**Just quickly want to say thank you to everyone who read, alerted and especially to those who reviewed. Keep those reviews coming, please :)**

* * *

I had put my trunk next to those of all the other Slytherins in the Entrance Hall and now followed Callie and Maia into the Great Hall for breakfast. I was excited to go home, to see my parents; I was excited for Christmas in general. I sat down at the Slytherin table and reached for some toast. Callie and Maia were chatting about their plans for the holidays. We had agreed to meet sometime in Diagon Alley, but had yet to find a date – Callie was rejecting possibility after possibility, for probably being "preoccupied".

"Do you want to meet us, or do you not?"

"Of course I do!"

"Then don't make it that difficult!"

"It's just..."

"Guys," I murmured. "Please. It's Christmas, be a little peaceful."

They both sighed and muttered simultaneously: "Sorry."

I took a bite from my toast and looked around. The Great Hall was as usual beautifully decorated. It almost made me sorry for not staying. Then again, my parent's home would also be decorated, so what did I care?

"Selene?"

I looked up and smiled at Regulus. "Reg! Oh, finally, I do have a present for you..."

"Yeah – er – however, I wanted to talk to you... alone."

Maia giggled shrilly, but I ignored her.

"No problem," I said and got up.

I had thought that he had just wanted to get away from my horrible friends, but he led me out of the Great Hall. As we passed our trunks, I quickly stopped.

"Just a sec' – _Accio Reg's present!" _A small package flew at me and I caught it with great effort. "There you go," I handed it to Reg. "But it's not to open until Boxing Day!"

He nodded sharply and nodded in the direction of a currently abandoned corridor. I followed him, a little bewildered. "Reg? Everything okay with you?"

"Yeah, perfect," he muttered.

"So, uhm-" I looked around and smiled a little. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Right, right – Listen. About... about our kiss."

I raised an eyebrow. "But we already sorted that o..."

He interrupted me before I could finish my sentence. "Actually, no, I'm not through with it."

I sighed. "So, what about it?"

"As it happens... I quite liked it."

My eyes widened slightly. "Wha- I mean – it was not bad, I suppose..."

"No, no, you don't get it... ugh; you're really making this hard."

I bit my lip and waited for him to go on.

"Okay, look – I know that after that... incident, you're not too keen on a relationship, but if... you know, if you wanted to..."

I sighed once again. "Listen, Reg, I'm not sure – we're friends, you know..."

He nodded, slightly firmer as if he had expected me to say something like this and he was prepared for it. "I know. And this is why I'm telling you before the holidays, so that... so that you have time to make up your mind."

I quickly wetted my lips with my tongue before answering. "Reg, I..."

"Yeah, I get it, we're friends and all, but – you'll never know whether it's worth it if you don't try it!"

I couldn't help but grin a little at how he had learned that by heart.

"I – okay. Okay, I'll think about it," I whispered and his face lightened up.

"Splendid!"

He leaned forward and pressed a feather-light kiss on my lips before hurrying away.

I waited a few minutes before going back to the Great Hall. Maia and Callie were already standing in the Entrance Hall, waiting for me.

"We kept some toast for you – what did he want?"

"Oh, he, er, just wanted to say goodbye."

"Yeah, right," said Callie sarcastically. "That's why you're so pink in the face."

I lowered my gaze and blushed even more violently.

"Did he finally confess his un-dying love?" asked Maia and I glared at her.

"No, he didn't. I won't tell you anyway."

They shrugged and then we turned to Professor McGonagall who just held one of her speeches on how we should behave during the train ride. I didn't particularly dislike her, but she _was_ being a pain in the arse sometimes.

During our ride in the carriages down to Hogsmeade's very own train station, I left my friends to their chatting. They still had not made up their minds on when to meet, but I could've cared less. In my mind, I was still with Regulus – was he serious? Did he really want me that way? Did he really want to throw our friendship away for that? I wasn't so sure.

"Selene?"

I jumped and looked up. The carriage had stopped and Maia and Callie had already left it, now waiting patiently for me.

"Sorry, I was..."

"Deep in thought."

"Yeah."

Before climbing on the train, I took a last look at Hogwarts. I smiled a little. The castle was so very beautiful.

As I entered the cabin that my friends had occupied, they had already settled. Callie's head rested on her boyfriends lap and Maia, sitting across from them near the window already started to loosen her tie.

"Ugh, I really hate those – that's the only bad thing about Hogwarts, honestly."

"You mean, apart from the nasty homework and the exhausting examinations?"

Maia groaned. "Don't remind me, will you."

I smiled slightly. "You really are giving me no option – the OWLs are coming up..."

"I said to not remind me!" she shrieked and threw her tie at me. Obviously, that wasn't very impressive.

"Rude much? I was only hinting at..."

Maia groaned and stuffed her tie into one of her bags. "Will you study during the holidays?"

I sighed. "Well, I probably won't have any other option. I'll never pass Transfiguration if I don't start working harder."

Basil made a disapproving sound. "All right - all right. Let's skip that topic. Hey – there I see the candy lady! Who of you is a dear and gets us some sweets?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't that be the gentleman's duty?"

He smirked a little. "And who exactly are you referring to?"

I rolled my eyes and got up. "Fine then – charming one you picked, Callie."

She merely smiled at me.

I moved towards the candy lady when suddenly someone bumped into me with force, causing me to land on the floor along with him. "Ouch, Pettigrew, watch where you're going!"

He blushed to a ruby red in the matter of seconds. "S-s-sorry..."

I sighed heavily and got on feet again with a groan. "How did that even..."

"My fault, missy, very sorry."

I recognized with a sigh that I was now looking straight into the grey eyes of one Sirius Black.

"Not funny, Padfoot," Pettigrew complained. "That hurt and I-I h-have..."

"Already said I was sorry, haven't I, Wormtail?"

The small boy gave a sound of disapproval, that should've probably been something like a groan, but it came out way to high. After that, Pettigrew disappeared back into the cabin where he had flown out of as soon as he could.

"Were you going somewhere?" Sirius asked casually as the door shut.

"Indeed I was – you better leave me be, you won't want your friends to see you in my company."

He snorted. "Yeah, right. Can't you just get over it already?"

I stared at him for a while and then decided that he was probably right about it. "I'm just – you're such a jerk when you're with your friends."

"It's said to happen. Candy lady?" He supposed and I nodded.

"I'll accompany you."

I bought pumpkin pastries and cauldron cakes while Sirius only watched me smirking.

"What got you grinning, huh?"

"One would just think that my darling brother would pay for these..."

"Your brother is staying at school over the holidays."

He was openly staring. "Wha- why?"

"It seems that the situation is rather fierce at your parents' – after you and your uncle being disowned and all..."

"My uncle's been disowned?"

"For giving you the money, obviously."

He groaned. "So... he's staying behind."

I nodded and stopped walking as we had reached his cabin. "I'm rather surprised seeing you on the train, though."

"Yeah, the Potters have invited me over."

"It's very nice of them to take you in."

"Indeed. They're very nice people, actually."

"Their son doesn't seem to have inherited it."

Sirius sighed. "Look, James is not that bad – he just... he just doesn't like any Slytherins."

I snorted. "Yeah, as it happens, I don't like any Gryffindors. I'm just making an exception for you..."

He laughed his barking laughter. "How very generous."

"Sometimes I regret it."

He laughed once more. A group of younger Hufflepuff girls passed us and started giggling uncontrollably as they spotted Sirius. I rolled my eyes. He really was too popular for his own good.

"So – uh, I have to go back to the others, they're waiting for their..." I held up the candies and he nodded.

"Then yeah... hope you have a good Christmas..."

"Thanks, well – you as well."

He grinned and then suddenly leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek. "Goodbye, Selene."

There it was, I blushed. I shouldn't.

"Goodbye, Sirius," I whispered and hurried away.


	7. Boxing Day, 1976

**I know I'm a day late on my schedule and I'm sorry, but I got ill. Actually, I'm still ill, but I dragged myself to my laptop to update ;) Anyways, I don't mean to wallow in self-pity, so: Thanks to the two people who reviewed the last chapter, it's greatly appreciated.**

**And here's the new one:**

* * *

I barely listened to what my aunt Druella was telling me. My eyes were fixed on the fragile figure of my brother who talked to my cousin. It was strange. Usually, he stayed away from people – this was the first time I had seen him since we had returned from school. And now, he seemed to be in deep discussion with Bellatrix.

"Selene, darling, are you even listening..."

"I'm sorry, Aunt Druella, I'm sorry – got a bit carried away with my thoughts... you were saying?"

I didn't get what she was saying the second go, too. Still, my eyes were fixed on my brother and cousin. In the meantime, they were joined by Bellatrix' husband – my ex-boyfriend's older brother - Rodolphus.

After a while, my aunt seemed to have given up. The next time I looked in the direction where she was supposed to be sitting, her seat was empty. I searched for her shortly and found her standing with my mother. Well, she surely was better attended to there.

"Now, there, all alone?"

I spun around and saw my dear cousin suddenly sitting right next to me. How she had managed to do it so silently that I missed it, I never knew.

"I seem not to be very entertaining."

She laughed shortly. "It seems so."

"Something you wanted, Bella?"

"As it happens, yes, I wanted to talk to you."

I raised my eyebrows. Now, that was odd. Usually, she didn't bother talking to me at all.

"About what, may I ask?"

"What's going on with you and my brother-in-law?"

I stared at her, a little perplex. He couldn't have been so stupid to let _that_ subject drop?

"Why are you asking?"

"Well, we visited him and his parents yesterday, obviously... and as I mentioned we would go visit you today, he started behaving really odd..."

I managed to smile. "Yeah, well – we were together for a short time, but – uh, we broke up."

"Recently?"

"Matter of definition."

"So... you broke up or he dumped you?"

I managed a cold smile. "That's a personal matter, Bella."

She shrugged and leant back in her chair. "I had already – suspected worse."

I choked on the drink I had just taken a nip from. "Err... what... what do you think would've happened? It's _Rabastan_ we're talking about..."

She sighed. "I know his brother rather well, so..."

I straightened a little and looked at her with concern. "Everything okay between the two of you?"

"Of course. He wouldn't dare hurt me anyway."

I raised an eyebrow. "You say that as if you had leverage."

"No leverage, but protection." She smiled softly and leant towards me. "The Dark Lord rewards his most loyal servants..."

It was as if an iron fist had closed around my heart as she said that.

"You must sure be a very faithful servant if he takes the time to protect you from your own husband..."

"His most faithful servant, indeed," she whispered with a mad glowing in her eyes. "Though I don't need his protection very often – he has taught me well."

I swallowed hard and tried to keep my voice normal. "Good to know you can defend yourself, Bella."

She chuckled darkly. "Well, I'm not relying on men to save me – like my sister."

I was glad about the change of subject. "Where is Cissy, by the way? I had hoped for her to come over..."

Bella shrugged. "Certainly, her fiancé had better things to do..."

"Malfoy always has better things to do! He knows nothing about family..."

"Lucius is a very respectable pureblood wizard!"

"Still, he's not present, is he?"

She didn't answer me and, confused about that, I followed her gaze that had suddenly turned away from me. It was my brother she was looking at, who was in deep conversation with her husband.

"You want him to become a Death Eater, don't you?"

"Evan asked me himself."

"He's barely seventeen. What could he do...?"

"Age doesn't matter to the Dark Lord!" she said in a sharp voice. "It only matters how well you serve him."

I shook my head. "Evan... he shouldn't..."

"Yes he should!" Bellatrix slowly got up and looked at me with a look between disbelief and disgust. "It is an honour to serve the Dark Lord! I wouldn't expect you to understand, though, little girl."

* * *

Later that evening, I found myself knocking at my older brother's door. He didn't respond and I knocked once more. Still no answer.

"Evan, I know you're in there and I'm coming in anyway. Please open the door."

It took another couple of seconds and then the door opened. "WHAT?"

"Finally. I need to talk to you."

"About what?"

"May I come in?"

He groaned but stepped aside to let me in. I realized how long I hadn't been inside his room. Last time, it had been decorated with posters of his favourite Quidditch players and Slytherin banners. Now, it was completely bare. The only thing that trimmed the walls was a newspaper article.

HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED – everything else was in smaller letters and I whirled around to look at Evan.

"So, it's true?"

"What is true?"

"Bellatrix told me that you want to become a Death Eater."

"It's true. Was that all?"

I stared at him, for a few moments unable to understand what he had just said. Realization hit me even harder when I finally did. "You're insane. How can you be so calm? A Death Eater! Do you even realize what that means? Do you realize what they _do_? They murder people! They torture people! Evan! Merlin, you can't mean that. Tell me that you don't mean that, Evan!"

He sighed a little but his eyes were cold – I couldn't see the littlest glimpse of emotion in them.

"I'm insane?" he asked. "_I_ am insane? You are the one who is out of her mind!"

I raised my eyebrows. "What are you on about?"

He took two steps towards me until he stood right before me. "Isn't it true, that you dumped Rabastan – a respectable, young, pureblood wizard – in favour of that blood-traitor, Sirius Black?"

I took a step back and glared at him. "Yes, Rabastan and I broke up and if you knew the circumstances, you would certainly be in favour of that. But – I did not do it in favour of Sirius – if he's a blood-traitor or not doesn't matter in that context. Actually, I didn't do it in favour of anybody."

Evan gave a bitter laugh. "Yeah? I wonder where the rumours come from then..."

"What rumours?" I asked, suddenly careful. Who was spreading rumours about me?

"Yeah, you know, word goes running, that..."

"That what?"

"That one of the Black brothers is not enough for you."

I now openly stared at him and then started laughing. "You're not serious – you just made that up, didn't you?"

"Now, whatever gave you the idea?"

In fact, he looked as if he was super serious. I shook my head. "That's just plain stupid."

"You're denying it then? There's nothing between you and Sirius? Nothing between you and Regulus?"

"Well, there's certainly only something between me and _one_ _of them_."

Evan smirked mockingly. "Ah – and which one is that? Have you decided yet?"

"I don't know why we're even talking about this! This was about you – you and your weird wish to be a Death Eater!"

"I don't think it's weird," he said calmly. "I long to serve the Dark Lord! I long to free the wizarding world of mudbloods and blood-traitors..."

I shook my head. "No matter what you long for, murdering people is not right."

"I won't murder people. I'll murder mudbloods – they're not worth the scum under my shoes."

I took a few steps back, shaking my head. "No," I whispered. "No, you don't mean that..."

"I do," he said matter-of-factly. "And now, if you don't mind, I would like you to leave."

Tears started forming in my eyes. "Evan, please, that's not you – I know you, that's not you."

"YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME!"

I flinched as he yelled at me. "You are my brother, Evan, I know that you don't..."

"OUT!" He grabbed my arm and dragged me out. "Out, and don't come back!"

He pushed me into the hallway and the door shut behind him with a loud clash.

* * *

That night, I couldn't sleep. There were too many things – I didn't even know where to start!

Though, the most important one obviously concerned my brother. Merlin, he wanted to be a Death Eater! He was talking like these other maniacs, he was talking like Bella! When did that happen? How could I not have noticed! I felt more than just bad. I felt horrible. He was my brother after all, I should've noticed that he... that he had turned into a mindless racist who wished nothing more than to serve a maniac who wanted to rule the world!

And then of course, there were the other things Evan had said.

_That one of the Black brothers is not enough for you._ He couldn't possibly believe that I really was – yeah, what, in fact? I hadn't done anything! And I wasn't messing with both of them!

Was I?

Fine. I had kissed Reg. Twice. And he – he wanted to be with me. Granted, I had said neither yes nor no, but... it was not that I rather wanted to be with Sirius. I had only blushed when _he_ had kissed me on the cheek because I hadn't expected it. Right. That was the reason. I didn't have these feelings for him. Now that I thought about, I wasn't sure if I had these feelings for any of the two. But sure as hell I didn't have them for Sirius. The way he was treating me in front of his friends...

_Well_, a voice in my head said, _maybe you're flirting with him. Just a little..._

I shook my head. Oh no. No, I wasn't. I wasn't messing with them both! I took a deep breath in order to calm me down. It was nothing but a stupid rumour and there was a very easy way to get that rumour out of the world. When I was going back to Hogwarts, I would tell Reg yes. I really did like him after all, and no one could claim that I was going out with both of them if I openly was with Reg.

_Yeah_, I thought, very close to sleep. _That's what I'll do._

* * *

**Tell me what you think, please.**


	8. January 8, 1977

**Thanks to all those who read, alerted and to Gemelina23 for reviewing!**

**With this chapter, we're going back to Hogwarts :) Enjoy!**

* * *

Being back at Hogwarts was relieving. It felt as if the most disturbing reality – my brother becoming a Death Eater, all those people tortured, murdered – wasn't _real_ inside the castle's walls. Hogwarts had its own, different reality.

I entered the Common Room along with Callie and Maia who were chatting about their Christmases. I looked around, not caring about their conversation for the moment and searched for Reg. The sooner I got this over with the better. I couldn't find him, though.

I sighed and then spotted Hector Crabbe sitting by the fireplace.

"Excuse me for a second," I murmured to my friends and went over.

"Hey, Crabbe. Have you seen Regulus?"

"Huh?"

I groaned. One couldn't exactly say that he was bright. "Crabbe. Where's Reg?"

"Uh – said something 'bout library, I think."

"Great. Thanks for the help."

I turned on my heel and headed back to the girls who were already giving me weird looks. "If you don't mind – I'll go to the library, I have to..."

"Should we..."

"No, no, I better go alone."

I moved to the small passage leading out of the common room and hurried through the dungeons. As I climbed the Great Staircase, I suddenly bumped into someone. I looked up and groaned. "Whoa, Snape, watch it!"

He stared at me, pale as usual and mumbled something. I felt sorry at once. "I'm sorry, I just... I'm in a hurry – searching for someone."

"Who would that be?"

I wanted to move, hurry away, but I still felt sorry for being so harsh that I tried for a little more patience. "Regulus Black, I think he's..."

"Oh, we just happened to have a mee... I mean, I just met him in the library. He's probably still there-"

"Yeah, I already- however, thank you, Severus."

He smiled weakly and I picked up my pace again, hurrying up the stairs and through the corridors until I reached the libraries. I stopped short and only then realized that I was out of breath. I couldn't go in there like that, what would he think? No, I had to calm down a little and when I breathed like a normal person, I would...

"Oh, hey, Selene, what are you doing up here? I was sure to find you in the Common Room?"

If my face hadn't been already red from running up here, it would probably blush red. Like this, he probably couldn't tell the difference. I tried to look on the bright side of things.

"I – uh, I was searching for you."

"Really?"

"Yeah – I thought about – what you said before the holidays and I... I wanted to tell you yes."

His eyes widened and he whispered: "Y-yes?"

I grinned weakly. "Yes. I suppose you're right – we'll never know how it'd work out if we don't try, so-"

He cut me off by pulling me into a tight hug and spinning me around. I laughed at his cheerfulness, even though I couldn't breathe once again. He put me back on the ground and I grinned at him.

"I take it you didn't exactly expect that."

"I didn't dare to hope on it."

"You're overdoing it, my friend."

"My love."

I chuckled. "Well, then, are you going to kiss me or not?"

He grinned at me and leant forward to quickly brush my lips with his.

"That was all?" I yelled as he ran along the corridor.

"Come and get me!"

I half-groaned, half-laughed and ran after him.

* * *

It had been a week since I had told Reg yes. I was on my way from the library to the Great Hall where I wanted to meet with the girls. I just descended a staircase leading to the first floor as the stone under my foot gave in and my leg sank into the staircase. I gasped, shocked and stared at my feet. How was that possible? I usually knew the disappearing steps by heart and just jumped them out of routine.

"What the h-"

I was cut off by loud laughter. "Ha, it worked! See, Padfoot, I knew it would work!"

I growled as I recognized the voice. "Potter! What in the name of Merlin did you do? Get me out of here!"

"Oh, hey, Padfoot, get your arse over here, it's Rosier."

"What? Prongs, I told you to watch who it was!"

Both Potter and Sirius jumped down the stairs on either side of me and then stood in front of me.

"Hey, there, missy. Such a pity. We added an extra-disappearing step. Actually, I had hoped for Snivellus to get trapped."

"That's not funny, leave Snape alone!"

Potter groaned. "I'm actually quite glad that it hit her, Pads."

"Well, it could be worse."

"Yeah, right."

"Get me out of here, Sirius!"

"Oh, I don't know – tell me something, how does it feel? Do you feel your leg? Does it hurt? 'Cause if it does, it's not really that funny anymore..."

"Get me out of here, and maybe I'll tell you."

"Well, Rosier, you're not really in the position to negotiate..."

"Potter!"

"What? Hey, Padfoot, obviously it doesn't hurt so badly. It's a success – we should think about using that on some other staircase..."

"Down to the Dungeons?"

"The Great Staircase, maximum publicity."

"Or maybe that staircase in the DADA-tower – maybe we'll trap McGonagall with it..."

"Sirius!" I interrupted him harshly. "Get me out of here!"

He didn't answer me, his eyes suddenly locked on something over my head. "Don't think I have to," he muttered, every sign of amusement suddenly disrupted from his voice.

"Sirius, what are you doing there?"

I took a deep breath. Great. It was Regulus.

"None of your business, _brother_."

"It's indeed my business, as this is my girlfriend trapped in the staircase there."

I sighed. "Reg? Could you..."

He was next to me in a second, wrapped his arms around my middle and pulled me out. I sighed in relief as I felt the step giving my leg and foot free. I tried to stand, but I couldn't exactly feel my leg, so I leant against Reg for stability.

"Your girlfriend, you say? I didn't realize..."

"Yeah, well, I'm not surprised, _brother_. You're not someone to confide in."

Sirius growled dangerously and I grabbed Reg's arm. "Let's get going, come on – I'm starving..."

"Sure, love, how's your leg, can you...?"

"_Ooo, love, how's your leg, huh?_" Sirius had thrown his arm around Potter who grinned like mad.

"_Not sure, love, let's get going, I'm SOOO hungry..."_

I rolled my eyes and decided to ignore them. I experimentally tried to stand on my leg in which I started to regain feeling. It hurt a little. "You might want to help me down the stairs."

Reg was still glaring at the two Gryffindors, but murmured: "Sure, love."

He still had his arm wrapped around my waist and steadied me as we made our way down the stairs.

"_Would you like me to help you down the stairs, Padfoot, love?"_

"_Sure, love, sure..."_

Reg let go of me and whirled around. "Oh, shut it, Potter. Just because not even the Mudblood would go out with you..."

I shrieked as suddenly, Potter had pulled out his wand and pointed it straight at Regulus. "Leave Evans out of this!"

"You deny she's a mudblood, then?"

Sirius joined his friend, his wand equally pointed at his brother's face. "Don't call Evans that."

"Oh, so, you're both into her? Decided yet who's going to get her? Or are you actually sharing? After picking a mudblood, you couldn't sink any deeper anyway-"

"Reg," I whispered. "Let it go, let's just..."

"Yeah, Black, listen to your girlfriend... better get used to being whipped."

"Reg," I protested as he pulled out his own wand.

"Say that again, Potter."

"It'll be my pleasure..."

"What's going on here?"

Sirius and Potter whirled around and I lifted my head to see Lily Evans, the just mentioned Muggle-born, coming down the stairs.

"Oi, Evans," Potter exclaimed with slight panic in his voice, "Watch the-"

But too late. Evans had committed the same fault as I and was now trapped in the step. She screamed, but regained her composure rather quickly.

"Potter," she growled and both he and Sirius hurried up the stairs, grabbed her arms and pulled her out of the step.

"Really, sorry, we're just perfecting the system..."

"Why, let's see – as bad as that is for our house. 5 points from each of you for installing this – whatever here. I expect you to remove that. What's going on, anyway?" she asked, pointing at Reg and me, staring up to the three Gryffindors.

"He – he called you a ... you-know-what and I-"  
"I can stick up for myself. Another 5 points from all three of you."

"What?" Reg exclaimed. "They threatened me, you can't..."

"Language, Black, that's what it's for."

I glared at the red-haired girl. "He can say whatever he wants, you can't take points from him for that."

"Why, yes of course I can, you just saw, didn't you? Now, head on to the Great Hall, that's where you were going, right? Good. Potter, Black-"

I didn't hear the end of her tirade, cause Reg had pulled me around the corner and through the corridor leading to the Entrance Hall.

"I hate them all, the whole lot of them..."

"Yeah, well, they just think they're funny, that's all..."

"Making that mudblood a prefect, what was Dumbledore thinking? Hogwarts really is going to the dogs..."

"Reg, please," I murmured. I didn't like it at all when he was that angry.

"Sorry, honey, I just... it's Sirius, whenever I see him, he just drives me out of my mind..."

I sighed. "That's because you're both so stubborn. You'd probably get on rather well, if only you..."

"I hate him, that's why. He's been..."

I shook my head.

"What? What, huh?"

"I don't believe you. I don't think you hate him. You might dislike him at the moment – but the truth is, you'll always care about him, he's your brother. And there's nothing wrong about that," I added as I saw the troubled look on his face. "This is how it should be."

* * *

**Leave a review, please :)**


	9. February 2, 1977

**Here comes the new chapter. I'd like to thank everyone who read, fav'd, alerted and especially those who reviewed :)**

* * *

"Selene, wait – come on, talk to me."

I turned around and sighed. Sirius did his best to keep the puppy look on his face as I watched him with a slightly amused smirk.

"I don't really know, Sirius, I told you to-"

"And I didn't _force_ Snivellus to take that step, did I? We just..."

"Installed the disappearing step there, right. What did you get for that?"

"A week of detention with Slughorn. We had worse." He shrugged it off with a grin.

"Well, yes, I suppose..."

"I'm sorry you got trapped back then – it wasn't exactly intended. And James just doesn't know when to shut it."

"Oh, you're no better, honest."

He shrugged once again. "So, uhm, what I wanted to ask you – you and Regulus? Since when – I mean – you didn't mention it before Christmas."

"Well, we weren't together before Christmas."

"But you are now."

"Obviously."

He frowned a little and took a step in my direction. "Regulus, really? You could do so much better."

"I'm pretty content with him, thank you very much."

He sighed. "Aren't you changing boyfriends pretty quickly? I mean, it was end of November when you broke it off with Lestrange..."

I shuddered. "Ah, don't remind me."

He seemed a little worried. "What exactly-"

"None of your business. But your brother was a great help there."

"Is that why? Because you're thankful?"

"Merlin, no!" I glared at him for even suggesting that. Granted, I owed Reg for saving me back then, but that was certainly not the reason why I was with him now.

"Why then? Don't tell me you love him!"

"Well, I do like him, actually."

"Like or love?"

"Sirius!"

He raised both eyebrows and waited for my answer.

"Come on, I'm only fifteen..."

"Now, tell me the truth, Selene. If you don't actually believe to be in love with him – then why did you decide to be with him, huh? What's your reason to take it there? And I don't believe the rubbish about he's suitable or... Quidditch player or... whatever."

"Well, I guess he is suitable and he is a Quidditch player, so..."

"Selene!"

I sighed heavily. He really wanted to know. "I do like him and he wanted to be with me and I thought, well – why not? And..." I hesitated a little but then decided that he was a good friend, after all. "And then my brother told me about some rumours over the break..."

"Rumours?" Sirius asked suspiciously.

"Yeah. Rumours that I was... actually, that I was messing with the two of you."

"With me?" Sirius repeated, dumbstruck and then started to laugh. "Who the hell thought that?"

"What do I know? But I couldn't let word be spread about that."

"So you decided to stop that by picking one of us and of course you chose the more suitable one..."

"That's not what I thought, but the result is the same, so basically yes."

He shook his head. "He won't like that."

"I don't intend to tell him. He dislikes you enough."

"Oh, the feeling is mutual."

I rolled my eyes. "I really like Reg, okay? I wouldn't be with him if I didn't. This other stuff is just – it favoured my decision, but if I hadn't liked him in the first place..."

"Yeah, I get it. Still I think that's pretty poor of you. Being with him just for the sake of your good reputation."

"I guess it is if you put it like that. But I am a Slytherin, after all."

He groaned. "That's awful."

"Think what you want, Sirius, I don't really care about a kitten's opinion."

"Kitten?" he repeated, suddenly grinning again and then leapt forward to grab me. I laughed as he tickled me. "Stop - Sirius! Stop!" I fought him, but to no use.

I still laughed as he pulled me flush against him, his chest colliding with my back.

"Take it back, now..."

"I take it back."

"Say it – tell me I'm not a kitten – but a big, dangerous, impressive..."

"Toerag?"

"Lion," he concluded.

"Okay, you're a very dangerous, impressive lion. Happy?"

He let go of me and I took a few steps away from him before turning around.

"Very happy, indeed."

"Good."

We grinned at each other until suddenly, his expression changed again, his face fell and he sighed. "I still think you could do better." He passed me and once again, kissed me on the cheek. "And I think you know that."

* * *

I sat down next to Reg in the Great Hall and absentmindedly put some potatoes on my plate.

"Selene, honey, are you okay?"

I flinched and looked up at him. "What?"

"I asked you if everything was okay. You're quite pale."

I shook my head. "It's nothing, I just... nothing, really."

I had the feeling that it wasn't a good idea to tell him about my conversation with Sirius. He was mad enough at him either way, if he now found out that Sirius disapproved of our relationship – that would just be too much. Besides, Sirius wasn't right, was he? I really liked Reg; I wasn't with him only because it was good for my reputation! _I think you could do better_. What did he want to tell me with that? Just that he... just that he thought that I could do better or was there something more behind his words?

"Selene?"

"Huh?"

"I was just asking you if you were sure. You really don't look well."

"I guess I'm just – just tired or something... I'll go to the Common Room, if you don't mind."

"Do you want me to accompany you?"

I stared at him and then whispered: "That would be- no, Reg, you need to eat... the Quidditch game on Saturday..."

"Not that important."

He got up and took my hand to lead me out of the Great Hall. As we made our way through the Entrance Hall, Reg asked: "Now, won't you tell me what's really on your mind?"

"Wha- I told you, nothing."

"Ah, don't lie, please. As you don't want to tell me, I have to assume that it has something to do with my darling brother?"

I kept silent as we entered the Dungeons and skipped the step that the Gryffindors had hexed.

"So, I'm right."

"It was nothing, really."

"What did he say? Tried to tell you to dump me?"

I stopped short in my track, but he pulled me with him, his fingers still intertwined with mine.

"How do you know?" I whispered.

"Well, seen as he gave me a speech about how you deserved something better than a wannabe Death Eater just yesterday..."

"Wannabe Death Eater?" I repeated. "Speech? Yester- Oh, no he didn't!"

Reg shrugged and murmured: "Salazar" with which the wall opened to reveal the Common Room. He still didn't let go of my hand and pulled me inside right behind him.

"He's obviously very concerned for your well-being."

"Yeah, well, that's rather nice, but absolutely inappropriate! It's really – he shouldn't – what did you tell him?"

"To mind his own business."

"That sounds... reasonable."

Reg sighed and sat down on a couch in front of the fireplace, pulling me with him. He laid his arm around my shoulders and I leant into him.

"He didn't think so, though. Kept going on that I was just ruining you. That it was well his business, and that he would watch over you."

"That's sort of creepy."

"Good."

I frowned and shifted a little to look at him. "What?"

"I had feared you'd find it sweet or something."

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you actually worried? Reg?"

He hesitated, obviously unsure if his words would offend me. "I just – you see, I know Sirius. He's – he's got a talent to lure all these girls into his bed – he's fine looking, I suppose..."

I smiled slightly. "Reg – come on. I guess you're right. He's good looking and charming – and popular. But so are you, and I am with you. And I wouldn't... I would never betray you like that okay, with your brother, how low do you think of me?"

"I don't think low of _you_. I'm only not sure about Sirius."

"He wouldn't steal away his brother's girl, come on."

"Yeah? Well then you don't know him that well."

I reached out to lightly trace my finger over his jaw. "And even if he would try – he wouldn't succeed."

His grey eyes met mine and he leant forward, capturing my lips with his.

* * *

**There you go, please be so nice as to leave a review. Thanks and have a lovely day :)**


	10. February 5, 1977

**I'd like to thank everyone who alerted, fav'd, and especially the three people who reviewed the last chapter :)**

* * *

The following Saturday was the date for the second Quidditch match for the Slytherin team. Reg looked extraordinarily pale and barely ate something, which he had in common with his teammates. It wasn't that they were bad – they were far from that – but Slytherin had lost against Gryffindor in the first match and the Gryffindors had won their second match against Hufflepuff – we had to keep up. No one knew that better than the players themselves.

My eyes wandered over to the Ravenclaw table and I could see Emma and Thomas Corner, their beaters, lurking at us. Why couldn't they just keep their noses in their beloved books and declare that we won already?

My gaze returned to Regulus, who had turned around slightly to see who I was looking at. "Don't worry," I murmured. "They're just scared."

"They should," he answered, but he didn't sound very convincing. "They lost against _Hufflepuff_, I beg you."

"See," I smiled. "Nothing to worry about."

He nodded and stared at his plate. "It's only – I really sucked last time."

"You won't suck this time. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you."

Basil Montague, the keeper, suddenly appeared behind him and put his hands on Reg's shoulders. "Come on, better get going."

Reg swallowed hard, but got up and followed his teammate outside. I turned my attention back to Callie and Maia.

"He's gonna do well," Callie said with a shrug. "I don't get why the boys are always that anxious about Quidditch – I mean, come on, it's just a game."

"They want Slytherin to win the Cup, that's why."

Callie shrugged, her eyes travelled through the Great Hall. "Shall we go? I at least want to have a good seat."

"Why?" Maia asked, grinning, as she got up. "It's just a game, after all."

Callie sighed, but didn't answer her. We left the Great Hall and made our way to the Quidditch pitch. The stands were already half-filled and we had a hard time finding three seats together that were not surrounded by Ravenclaws.

It was quite cold and I was glad that I had brought my scarf as the wind was blowing harshly.

"They'll have a hard time flying with this weather," Maia sighed.

"Sure, but I heard the new Nimbus 1001 does quite well, even with the wind." Reg had been fairly proud when he had first told me about his new broom – he was one of the first ones to own a Nimbus 1001 and everyone knew that was a very, very good one.

"Yeah, I heard that, too, but it's not like they all got one – see Basil over there, he still flies a Shooting Star," Callie pointed at the Quidditch players who were just leaving the locker rooms.

"See, and Lucida Talkalot flies a Cleansweep Six – everyone knows that's not very stable," Maia added.

"Doesn't matter – the Ravenclaw team almost completely flies a Comet 220 – that's not very stable either. As long as Reg catches the Snitch..."  
"_If_ Reg catches the snitch."

"He sure will."

The Teams positioned on the field and I watch Talkalot shake the hand of the Ravenclaw captain.

"And there they are, shaking hands – Lucida Talkalot, for Slytherin, of course, it's her second year as team captain... and Konstantin Hitchin, he's been appointed team captain for Ravenclaw this year..."

"Who's commenting?"

"That's Amos Diggory, a Hufflepuff," Callie stated, looking through her field glasses.

"And their up in the air! Slytherin's got the Quaffle and that's Bole, if I am correct and he throws – ah, but he didn't make it, good catch, Hitchin-"

My eyes were locked on Reg who circled the field above all the others. As I had expected, he didn't seem bothered by the wind.

"And there it is, Talkalot has stolen the Quaffle from Clearwater and she's on her way- but oh, got hit by a Bludger, that sure hurt – but very well done by Emma Corner, though, gotta watch out, Thomas or she'll be better than you..."

I now watched Lucinda Talkalot, who lurched slightly due to being hit by a Bludger.

"And now Clearwater again, he's on his way – doesn't let Macnair get the Quaffle and – goal! First goal in the match, 10 points to Ravenclaw! In your face, Serpents – yeah, I know, I'll hold my tongue, Professor."

Callie had buried her face in her hands and Maia just silently shook her head.

"The game's going on without interruption, now Macnair for Slytherin – oh, loses the Quaffle to Desford... but – ah! Foul! How dare you?"

It was only a tiny moment, but obviously Macnair had pulled Desford's broom, thus making her loose the Quaffle.

"It was nothing!" Maia yelled, while the Ravenclaws protested harshly, but to no use. Madam Hooch hadn't seen it.

"That was - ugh, but now Macnair's got the Quaffle again, passes it to Bole – and it's in, Slytherin's scored a goal."

I took a deep breath of relief.

"That would've never happened if Macnair hadn't... and poor Helena, she's rather nice, accomplished Quidditch player and – yeah, yeah, so, Clearwater's got the Quaffle – but, ah, has to move away from a Bludger and the Quaffle she wanted to pass to Desford gets stopped by Talkalot and she's on her way to the goal and – in! Now, that was obviously Hitchin's fault, the ball wasn't even thrown that well..."

The Slytherins screamed in protest. The Quaffle _had_ been thrown well or it would've never had been in!

"The wind's starting to be a real problem, see how Jenny Boot is drifting sideways all the time..."

In fact, the Ravenclaw seeker obviously tried to stay at one place, namely the middle of the field high up in the air, but she drifted to the side immensely – every other moment, she had to return to her former position.

"Of course, that doesn't happen to Black, finally they used their money for something reasonable and bought him a Nimbus 1001 – and there goes a Bludger in his direction, from Thomas Corner."

I screeched but Reg moved away in the very last moment and the Bludger changed his direction, shooting away.

"–sorry, mate, that was probably me talking about you, no grudges, right? Meanwhile, there's Desford with the Quaffle and she throws, but – okay, that was quite an impressive catch by Montague, though I really can't stand him – sorry, Professor, but he's a – however. So, Talkalot's on her way and she – oh, what's that? Looks as if Black has spotted the Snitch and he's flying downwards – what a speed! Though Boot's trying, she can't keep up as it seems – 'course, the Comet's hardly a match for a new Nimbus – wow, that looks like – ooh, will he be able to stop?"

I had jumped up to watch as Reg sped towards the ground, hand stretched out to catch the Snitch, obviously – he was dangerously close to the ground, if he wouldn´t stop soon – looked as if he was going to crash down on it –

"Ah, and that was last second, he's going up again – and yeah, yeah, he's got the Snitch! That means Slytherin wins, bad luck, Ravenclaws, maybe-"

The rest of his words weren't audible anymore, because the Slytherins were cheering, screaming and chanting choruses: _Black's got the Snitch, Slytherin rules the Quidditch Pitch!_

* * *

By midnight, the party in the Slytherin common room still wasn't even close to an end. Professor Slughorn had stepped inside to end it, but as some of his favourites had begged him to let us keep going, he had left, smiling widely.

"New round of Butterbeer here!" someone shouted and I saw a few sixth-years turning up from their trip to the kitchen.

"And we've got some Firewhiskey over here!" someone else called. "But only for those who passed the OWLs, right?"

Callie giggled. "Basil, could you-"

I laughed and joined in her begging until Basil set off to get us all the Firewhiskey.

Reg laughed and pulled me a little bit closer. "I didn't think you were one to drink."

"We have to celebrate!" I said, giggling. "We won, after all... you won."

He grinned again and leaned forward to kiss me.

"Ugh," Maia exhaled as she fell into an armchair close to us. "Couldn't you take that somewhere else?"

I rolled my eyes at her but pulled away. "You're only jealous, darling."

"Yeah, that's just why."

I chuckled as she instantly cheered up when Basil returned, carrying five glasses of Firewhiskey by means of the levitation charm.

"Basil, you're really the best thing that ever happened to us-"

"Ahem-"

"Especially to Callie, of course-"

I laughed once more and took a sip of the Whiskey. It burned its way down my throat.

Suddenly, a voice called, "Regulus, mate, get over here-"

I turned at the same time as Reg to see Macnair, Snape and Rabastan standing close to the common room's secret entrance. It obviously had been Rabastan to call for him.

Reg immediately jumped to his feet.

"Hey," I said and his eyes darted from the small group to me.

"What?"

"Are you seriously going over there? To Rabastan?"

"Yeah-"

"I mean, you know what-"

"Are you coming, man?"

Reg looked over to them again. "I'll be back in a sec'."

"But-"

He straight-out ignored me and hurried off to join the small group of boys. Macnair started talking hastily, and then the group disappeared through the common room entrance.

* * *

**Tell me what you think, please :)**


	11. February 11&12, 1977

**Thanks to Gemelina23 and annaisadinosaur for reviewing the last chapter :****)**

* * *

During the next week, I kept a very close eye on Reg and the boys he had disappeared with. They often sat down together in the common room, but never for long. Also, they seemed to often meet in the hallways, stopping to whisper to each other, and glancing around nervously.  
I didn't only notice the four that I had seen the evening after the Quidditch match – the group varied a bit each time. Sometimes, Avery would join them; once, I saw Mulciber with them. What worried me the most, though, was the one time I actually saw that my brother joined their little group.

I had my chance the next Friday. I turned a corner down in the dungeons, only to jump back behind it and pressing my back against the wall, trying to make no noise whatsoever. Reg, Avery and Macnair were currently whispering together.

"When, then?" I heard Avery asking.

"Tomorrow night."

"The others are coming, too?" Reg whispered.

"Yeah... we'll sneak out right after curfew."

"Place the same as always?"

"Same as always."

"Splendid."

My eyes widened in fear as I heard footsteps coming my way. There was only one possibility: flight forward. I turned the corner, bumping straight into Avery.

"Oi! Watch were you're going!"

"Selene?" Reg appeared next to Avery, frown prominent on his face. "What – were you-"

"Just turning this corner and running into this idiot here – were you in a hurry?"

"No," Avery grumbled. "Just didn't hear you coming."

"You didn't need to hear me, stupid, you just should've seen me – anyways – I'm heading for lunch, are you coming, Reg?"

"I - sure. Yeah."

I tried my best to act totally normal as I walked with him toward the stairs leading up to the Entrance Hall.

"Selene – you were really just arriving that moment?"

I swallowed quickly and raised an eyebrow at him. "Sure I did. What do you think? That I spy on you?"

* * *

"I need your help." I sat down opposite to Sirius who was looking up at me from his breakfast.

"Rosier, this is the Gryffindor table."

"Shut up, Potter, I don't have the time for this now!" I looked back to Sirius. "Reg is-"

"Do I look like I care what _Reg_ is doing?"

"He's meeting with a bunch of people – Snape. Macnair. Avery. My brother," I admitted. "And Lestrange, I don't know why he even talks to that guy..."

"And?"

"And, I fear that... you know, this Christmas, Bellatrix and Evan had a little talk-"

"A little talk-"

"He wants to be a Death Eater."

Pettigrew's pale eyes widened in horror as his gaze switched between me and Sirius.

"See," Potter said. "That's why I don't want to associate with that lot."

I ignored him and went on, "I'm afraid that Reg wants to join, too."

Sirius was silent for a while, until he finally said, "And that's supposed to interest me, because-?"

"Because it does! Come now, Sirius, please don't play the dick, I need your help with this!"

He took a sip of his goblet and then asked, "What do you want me to do?"

"I want to find out if I am right. They arranged some meeting tonight... but I don't know where."

"That's not a problem. We'll find them."

Potter shot his friend a warning glance, but Sirius only said, "I'll need your cloak."

"No!"

"Prongs!"

Potter groaned. "Fine. But just because it's you, mate."

"What-?"

"When do they meet?"

"Right after curfew."

Sirius nodded. "I'll get you at ten minutes past curfew in front of your common room."

"You will be seen!"

"Don't worry about that, missy."

"But how-"

"I'll explain later, all right? Now, go, you're attracting attention."

* * *

I opened the common room's entrance at the exact time Sirius had told me. Cautiously, because I feared Reg or one of his companions might still be around, I stepped out into the hallway. There was absolutely no one there.

Suddenly, someone grabbed me from behind, pulling me flush against them, and clapping a hand over my mouth as to stifle my scream.

"Calm down, it's me, you're fine..."

He removed his hand and I hissed, "Sirius! What the hell-"

"Silent! Get down under here."

I frowned, turning around, to see he was holding up a cloak that he had draped over himself. "What-"

"Just trust me."

I stepped closer to him and he let the cloak fall down over the two of us.

"Now, move. Careful, you have to watch your feet, it'll look funny-"

"It'll look funny in the whole," I whispered. "The two of us underneath some cloak."

He laughed quietly. "But no one can _see_ us, missy."

"What are you talking about?"

"Just one little moment – in here."

He pushed away a hanging and revealed a secret hallway. My eyes widened as he pushed me inside.

"Good – finally we get rid of this." He pulled at the cloak and tossed it to the ground.

I eyed him as he stood before me, grinning widely. "Explain!"

He sighed. "You're no fun."

"Sirius!"

"It's an invisibility cloak."

"An- but these are so rare! And expensive, how did you get-?"

"It's James' – he inherited it from his father. Who got it from _his_ father and so on."

"And it – it works?"

"Perfectly. Didn't leave us hanging once."

"Amazing," I whispered. "And this is how you managed to do all that stuff..."

"Well, yes – but that's not the only thing."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What else?"

"Something that'll come in very useful tonight." He pulled out a very old piece of parchment.

"What-?"

"Just wait and see." He seized his wand, tapping lightly on the paper. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Lines began to spread all over the parchment, forming words and I bent forward to have a better look. _Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present THE MARAUDER'S MAP._ The words disappeared again, and instead the lines formed the floor plan of a building; hallways, rooms, halls, and then suddenly, tiny dots appeared, each signed with a name. I stared at the map, open-mouthed, as I realized what it was.

"Is that-"

"A map of Hogwarts. Showing every hall, every room, every secret passage, anything – it even shows every inhabitant – see," he pointed at two dots in a very small passage down in the dungeons. "That's us."

I leant forward again and – in fact, he was right. There were two dots, standing closely together. One was titled _Sirius Black_ and the other one was reading _Selene Rosier._

"This is – where did you get it?"

"Get it? We created it!"

My eyes found his and I whispered, "Really?"

"Sure! Padfoot – that's me, and Prongs, that's James-"

"Funny nicknames you got."

He froze mid-sentence. "You think so?"

"Yeah – how'd'you get them?"

He hesitated. "It's a long story. Don't have the time for this now. We gotta find my dear brother and his little friends on here..."

He scanned the map, eyes rapidly darting back and forth. When I had only managed to check the first floor, Sirius said, "I found them."

He pointed at a room on the fourth floor. He was right. Seven little dots were shown closely together in what I believed to be an abandoned classroom. One of it clearly read, _Regulus Black_.

"Great. So, we should hurry, they sure won't take long."

During our walk up to the fourth floor, again concealed underneath the invisibility cloak, my heart beat so heavily that I was sure that I would give us away by that alone. Sirius didn't comment on it, though, he was constantly searching the map for anyone who could possibly come our way. Luckily, we never met anyone on our way. Mere meters before our destination, Sirius suddenly stopped.

"What?" I whispered.

"No matter what happens, don't you go – I don't know – running inside, or revealing us in any other way-"

"I would never!"

"I just don't want to be caught."

He pulled out his wand again, tapping the map once more. "_Mischief Managed!_"

At once, all the lines disappeared, leaving the paper blank.

"Why are you deleting it?" I whispered.

"If anyone comes by, I don't want them to know what this is."

I nodded and he motioned for the two of us to move closer to the door behind which Reg and his companions were having their meeting. We stopped directly in front of it, pressing against the wooden door.

To my horror, the first voice to speak was my brother's. "Are we complete?"

Someone, I assumed it was Avery answered, "Yeah, we are, just get on with it, Evan!"

"Fine, fine – I have good news. I'll receive the mark this summer. I'm seventeen now, so..."

The other boys erupted in congratulations. There was some weird form of applause as I started shivering. Having Sirius' eyes burning on my face didn't make it any better.

"I can assume that you're gonna recommend us, then?"

"I already said that I have some friends who'd be equally honoured to join-"And?"

"And I was told it would be considered."

"Yeah," I heard Rabastan say. "Bellatrix said about the same when I asked her."

"Right," Evan muttered. "He's gonna want to see action."

"What do you mean?"

I flinched violently as I heard Reg's voice.

"You actually got to do something. Just saying that you hate mudbloods won't do it. You're going to have to prove."

"So," another voice said and Sirius angrily hissed, "Snivellus!"

"What do you propose?"

There was a short silence and then Reg said, "How 'bout that Gryffindor prefect – Evans?"

"No!" both Sirius and I gasped out loud at what we had heard, freezing right after. Had they-

"What was that?"

"Avery," my brother's voice commanded. "You go check if there's someone there."

Footsteps approached us. Sirius flung an arm around my waist, pulling me against him and pushing himself back against the wall, as flat as possible underneath the life-saving cloak. He probably felt me shivering again as he whispered, "Not a sound."

The door opened and Avery stepped outside, looking around. He looked in the opposite direction, then turned and took a step towards us. I held my breath, desperately trying to figure out what we'd do if he actually found us.

Avery frowned. Had he realized that there was something wrong right in front of his nose? Sirius grip on my waist tightened, he obviously feared the same... Avery took another step toward us... and huffed.

"There's no one here," he called to the others and turned to retreat back into the classroom.

The door closed behind him and I sighed in relief, relaxing against Sirius.

"Come on," he whispered into my ear. "Let's go..."

He pulled me after him, around a corner, down some stairs, along another hallway – I hardly paid attention to where we were going. My mind was occupied with other things.

Evan was going to become a Death Eater this summer.

He wanted the others to join.

Reg wanted to be a Death Eater.

They'd try to attack Lily Evans.

"Selene!"

I blinked, confused and looked up to meet Sirius' eyes. "What?"

"Gosh, I thought you'd never answer. Are you okay?"

"Sure, fine... sort of..."

He began pacing up and down in the small corridor he had leaded me to.

"We're going to have to report them," he finally said.

"No!" I said at once and he looked at me incredulously.

"Are you nuts? They're Death Eaters! They're going to attack a girl! Of course we have to report them!"

"Not if – not if – please! This is about Reg... and my brother... if we report them, they're going to get expelled!"

"Yeah! Yeah, right, and they should be!"

I shook my head rapidly. "Please – please, Sirius, I beg you – give me two days – he's not gonna do it. They're not going to do it."

He stared at me for a while, then finally said, "Fine. You got two days."

* * *

**Please leave a review, I'd appreciated it :)**


	12. Februar 13, 1977

**Thanks again to Gemelina23 and annaisadinosaur for reviewing :)**

* * *

"Did you talk to him already?"

I looked up from my book and saw Sirius standing in front of me. "No."

"Why not? What's the use of bloody dragging it out? Huh? You've got to-"

"Sirius! Sit down already, will you, and be quiet. You're going to get us kicked out."

Madam Pince was probably already lurking around the next bookshelf. Grumbling, Sirius sat down opposite from me and I turned my attention back to my book.

"So?"

"So, what? I didn't talk to him up until now. There's nothing new."

"Why didn't you, then? What good will it do-?"

"I just don't know how, okay?" I interrupted him. "I need to figure that out first. I'll do it tonight – or tomorrow... but I'll do it. Trust me."

He huffed. "You know, I'd rather not trust a Slytherin with something so important-"

I glanced up at him again. "Let's not have that sort of discussion right now."

"Would you stop looking at that book now?"

"Mr Black! Students are supposed to be looking at books in here! You are disturbing! Out! I say, out! And you, girl, you too? C'mon, move! Out!"

I glared at Sirius, but started stuffing my belongings into my bag, including the book I had been reading, practically having to fight for it ("Give it back, foul girl, it belongs here-" – "I borrowed it! I borrowed it! It's all legal!").

"Thank you so much," I said to Sirius as we stood outside on the third floor. "I was trying to _study_."

"I knew you had nothing important to do."

I glared at him again. "I'm studying for my OWLs, as you should very well know, that is-"

"Stop it. Stop it, you sound like Ev-" He sighed heavily. "You got to talk to him. And when you have, you come straight to me. We gotta tell Evans."

"We won't need to tell her."

"Yes," Sirius said bitterly. "Yes, we will."

* * *

During dinner, I decided that Sirius was right. There was no use dragging it out, I thought as I saw Reg arriving accompanied by Avery and my brother, it wouldn't do any good.

Reg sat down opposite to me, smiling widely. "How's it going?"

"Fine... fine. Do you think we can have a talk later on? Like... alone? In some quiet place?"

Callie and Maia sat down on either side of me, giggling. "In some quiet place?" Callie repeated.

"You're going to be _preoccupied_?"

"Yeah," I snapped. "With talking!"

They continued their cackling and I turned back to Reg, unnerved. "Please," I said.

He eyed me worriedly. "Sure."

Maia giggled, "Of course he wouldn't say no..."

I groaned. "Better now than later, come on, Reg."

"Eager, are we?" Callie cackled.

Ignoring her, I stalked out of the hall, hoping that Reg was following. He was.

"So, what's so important?"

I sighed heavily. "Somewhere we won't be interrupted."

"You don't plan on being preoccupied, do you? Just a joke," he added as I shot him a death glare.

"No, no, I don't," I whispered, finally finding an empty classroom and I motioned for Reg to get in. I closed the door and muttered, "_Colloportus_!"

"Uhm-"

"I know you're going to be mad at me," I began and he frowned.

"Why would I be mad at you?"

"Wait and see," I said darkly. "I know you're going be mad at me for not trusting you – but after all, my mistrust seems to have been justified."

By now, Reg was the mistrusting one. He had narrowed his eyes on me and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "What are you talking about?"

"I followed you. Last night. To your little meeting."

His eyes widened and anger clearly split over his face. "And? May I know why?"

"Yeah! Because you were meeting up with Lestrange, and Avery and – my brother, of all people. Needless to say I suspected you were up to no good."

"Ah," he made, now frighteningly calm. "And what did you find out?"

"The worst! That you all want to be Death Eaters and that you want to attack Lily Evans."

He sighed. Curiously enough, he now seemed utterly relaxed. "It was you out there, right? When we heard that noise and Avery went looking... that was you. How did you conceal yourself?"

"None of your business."

"Were you alone?"

I froze. "Why are you asking?"

"Because this doesn't sound like you at all."

I eyed him for a moment. "I think you underestimate me."

"Yeah? So you weren't with Sirius?"

I couldn't look him in the eye anymore. "How do you know?"

"That sounds perfectly like him. Sneaking out at night, listening in on other people's business and dragging you into that mess."

My head shot up. "It was my idea. And it's not other people's business! It is very well my business if my boyfriend is planning a murder!"

"A murder? I never said I'd murder the little mudblood, did I? Be careful what you say..." He shook his head slowly. "I don't think I want to talk about this anymore. I'm disappointed."

He made for the door, but before he could even raise his wand, I grabbed his arm. "Wait – Reg, please... that plan of yours... leave Evans alone, I beg you! You shouldn't-"

He laughed coldly. "Leave her alone? Leave her alone? Do you actually think that I could decide that?"

"Please – Merlin, you're all going to get expelled! The girl's going to get hurt and-"

He rolled his eyes. "You don't understand a thing about all this – so why don't you just get over it and let me take care of this."

"Because you want to attack her!" I exclaimed as he calmly raised his eyebrows.

"She's a mudblood – who cares?"

I shook my head. "You don't mean that."

"Don't I?"

He still was so freakishly calm. How could he be? I, on the other hand, was close to tears. "Please, Reg, please, I beg you..."

"It's no use."

He was already by the door now. "_Alohomora_!"

"I'm going to go to Dumbledore."

He whirled around, really upset for the first time. "No, you won't."

"Yes. Yes, I will! I can't let you-"

I interrupted my tirade for whimpering in fright instead. Reg had grabbed me, pushed me against the wall and now I felt the tip of his wand touching my cheek. "You want to say that again?"

I swallowed hard and whispered, "You won't hurt me."

"No? Try me."

"No," I whispered. "No, you won't."

He smiled at me coldly. "Now you listen very closely – you aren't going to tell anybody... no one at all... 'cause I may not hurt you – but I can't speak for the others."

I shivered as he pressed his wand harder into my cheek.

"And if you don't back off... it won't be only Evans who'll be hurt... I know a whole bunch of mudbloods and blood-traitors up in that Gryffindor tower..."

My eyes widened in horror. "You wouldn't do that."

"Watch me," he said, finally letting go of me.

I sank down on the floor as he opened the door and strolled out of the room, leaving me behind, staring into nothingness.

Finally, it seemed like hours later, I was able to move. I stumbled to my feet and held on to the wall. There was only one option anyways. I stumbled through the hallways, moving unconsciously towards my aim. As I reached it, I discovered that I was still able to form words.

"We've got a problem."

* * *

"There you go."

"I don't-"

"Eat. It'll do you good."

I took the piece of chocolate, sighing. "Thanks, Lupin."

"Remus."

My eyes met his and I smiled a bit. "Thanks, Remus."

"Rosier, really? Padfoot, you can't just bring these people in here!"

"Shut up, Prongs, will you?"

Sirius and Potter entered the common room again, arguing in whispers as to not wake any of the other Gryffindors up. They were closely followed by Peter Pettigrew, who seemed as though he tried not to attract attention.

Potter stopped at the bottom of the stairs, glaring. "So, snake, what do you want?"

I was too tired, to exhausted, too scared to argue with him. "It's about Reg."

"Reg?"

"Toe-Reg, don't you remember? People claim he's my brother."

Potter now turned to Sirius and harshly asked, "So? What about him?"

"He's in fact trying to become a death-eater, he and loads of others..."

"What do we care?"

"They want to attack Lily Evans."

His eyes darted to me, widened in horror. "Great, just great. What did she do to get dragged into this mess?"

I shrugged. "She's a mu...ggle born and I guess she's in a quite exposed position, seen as she's a prefect..."

"But she never did anything wrong, did she? She even was friends with Snivellus..."

I groaned. "Don't be stupid, Potter. As if they care."

He stared at me and then finally, he moved over and dropped into an armchair. "They can't do this," he whispered. "They're not that stupid. They're all going to get expelled."

"They don't think that they'll be caught. And even if they would, they don't care. It doesn't matter to them, because school doesn't matter to You-Know-Who."

"Then we go and tell Dumbledore," Remus said.

I shook my head. "No, we can't."

"Why not?"

"He threatened me - and he threatened all of you!"

"Us?" Remus said, perplexed.

"Well, not specifically, but he said he knows a bunch of blood-traitors and mudbloods 'up in the Gryffindor tower'... of course he means you... Sirius especially."

Sirius scoffed. "As if my brother could take me down."

"Not on his own," I admitted. "But he's not alone after all. We can't tell anyone, please, they're going to find a way to hurt you, to hurt me..." I trailed off, staring into the flames. "I'm scared."

"Of course you are," Remus said. "But that's what they want, right? You can't let them win!"

I looked up. "I know we can't. But we have to deal with this on our own."

"Potter! Black!"

We all whirled around, taken off-guard by the shrill voice. "Speaking of the devil," I whispered.

Lily Evans hurried into the common room and glared at me. "Only Gryffindors are allowed inside here!"

"It's a matter of life and death," Sirius said.

"I don't care!" the red-head snapped. "Get her out of here! Remus, I'm disappointed!"

"You don't understand!" Potter interrupted her. "They're going to attack you!"

That shut her up quite successfully and she stared at Potter in utter disbelief.

"It's true," I said quickly. "Sirius and I have heard them say-"

"Who?" she asked.

"Bunch of wannabe Death Eaters," Sirius said darkly. "Including my brother."

"Which is why you're here, I suppose," Evans asked me with raised eyebrows, "You're afraid."

I shook my head slowly. "This is not about me. Even though I'm scared as hell. But this is about you."

"It's easy, really," Potter said. "We'll just all stick around Evans and she'll be fine. And you, Rosier, you better... yeah, you better tack along, too, as much as I am going to hate it."

"No," Evans said. "No way. We'll have to-"

"We can't tell anyone," I snapped. "Now shut up! We have to work together now. Honestly. How long can it be until they give up?"

* * *

**There you go :) On a different note, AVPSY is out since last night and I spent the morning watching it - are there any Starkid fans reading this? Tell me in a review!**


	13. March 8, 1977

**Hey guys! Thanks to everyone who read, alerted and especially to the three people who reviewed :)**

**I'll be on vacation for the next two weeks, so I won't be able to update - still, enjoy the next chapter:**

* * *

"I've had enough of this! Stop following me around like dogs! Black, back off! And Potter, if you get near me _once_ again-"

"Shut it, will you?" I asked, rubbing my temples. "Honestly, Evans, ever since this started, I have a constant headache!"

She huffed and fell into the grass beside me. "The others are getting suspicious. How are they going to attack me if I'm with Alice or Emmeline, huh?"

"Remus," I whined. "Say something!"

"Why aren't we just all quiet and enjoy that spring is offering us such a beautiful day?"

"Well said, Moony," Sirius said. "But Evans is endangering herself."

"Something happened?" I asked as he sat down beside me.

"Nothing out of line. Avery was lurking around strangely in the Gryffindor corridor, but he was alone, so..."

"Then I wasn't endangering anyone!" Evans snapped.

"We're only worried!"

I frowned and looked at Pettigrew. He usually was very quiet. All the others looked at him with the same surprise, but Pettigrew continued, "We're worried about you, Lily, all right, and we're worried about Selene! Could you please stop bickering!"

I smiled slightly. "Sorry, mate."

Lily huffed and turned her head away from us. "This sucks," she whispered.

"Well, we can't exactly do anything about it," Potter said cheerfully. "I could distract you a bit-"

"Shut up!"

We all fell into silence and my gaze travelled over the grounds. It was indeed a wonderful day. My eyes trailed over the Forbidden Forest, the tress waving their leafs in the mild wind, and over the glistening surface of the lake.

Suddenly, my eyes fell on Callie and Maia, who were sitting by the shore, giggling to each other. I sighed heavily. Since I had started hanging out with Sirius and his friends they believed me to have dumped Reg in favour of his brother.

And I let them believe it, because it was way easier than to explain to them that Reg was now threatening innocent girls and was going to become a Death Eater. They'd never believe it... and if they did, I told myself, they probably wouldn't be bothered by it.

"So," Sirius said, laying back onto the grass. "What do you have next?"

"Potions."

He growled lowly. Potions was the one class where I was sitting next to Reg, because Professor Slughorn had refused to let us switch tables. Sirius constantly tried to get me to skip Potions for 'safety measures', but I refused. He wouldn't hurt me in front of a teacher, anyways.

"Don't go."

"Merlin, Black, you've been over this for about a thousand times! Stop it already!"

"You're one to talk, we're always around you-"

"Yeah, and it's horrid."

"Quiet now," I snapped. "I'm leaving. You calm down, Sirius, I'll be just fine."

I got up, grabbing my bag. "I'll see you all later."

I walked over the grounds toward the castle. When exactly had my life become this? Only bickering with some Gryffindors?

I stepped into the Entrance Hall and turned for the dungeons. "Hey, Selene!"

I stopped, my eyes finding who had called me. "Evan. What do you want?"

"Only showing some interest in you, little sister."

"Cut the crap and get to the point."

He made a face. "Are you coming home for Easter?"

I blinked in confusion. "Well... yes... I assume. Haven't thought about it, really. I might stay, though, the OWLs-"

"Right, right – Mum and Dad want you to come home."

I frowned. "Why don't they tell me themselves?"

"It's a surprise, I think," Evan said, shrugging. "Or maybe they'll just want to give you a talk about running around with blood-traitors and mudbloods."

I huffed. "Leave me alone, Evan."

"Hey, it's not my fault!"

Ignoring him, I descended the stairs down to the dungeons. It was quite cold down here. Even though it was nice outside, the castle hadn't yet warmed up completely. When I entered the Potions classroom, a lot of people were already there, including Reg, who was staring to the front as I sat down next to him.

I stared packing out my supplies, but I froze as I suddenly heard his voice. "Are you going home for the holidays?"

"Funny. You're the second one to ask me today. I might just stay."

"Oh, you wouldn't want to disappoint your parents."

"What would you know? You're obeying yours in everything."

"Are you saying that is wrong?"

"Seen as they are_ your_ parents, I'd say yes."

He smiled coldly. "You're hanging out too much with Sirius."

"What do you care? Not like you are my boyfriend or something."

I was surprised that he didn't seem angry as I said that.

"Whatever you say, love."

I was going to snap at him for calling me 'love', but in that exact moment, Professor Slughorn entered the classroom and we had to turn our attention to him.

* * *

"I don't like the sound of this."

I shrugged. "It's my parents, what could be the worst to happen?"

Sirius snorted and I glared at him.

"Okay, my parents aren't your parents!"

"They raised a death eater, though."

"Well, a lot of other people did, too."

Sirius mumbled something, but I chose to ignore him and instead turned to Evans. "I guess you'll be fine without me."

"Sometimes, I don't know if these boys or you are worse."

I shrugged. "Oh, we're all bad, I suppose."

"Why don't we all relax a bit," Remus suggested. "Maybe we have long sorted this out by Easter."

I huffed. "They won't give up until they reached their goal."

"They haven't done anything _up until now_, you guys are only paranoid."

I frowned at Evans. "Don't be stupid, d'you really think I'd spend time with you if I didn't have to?"

"Well, I'll relieve you of my presence! Don't you look at me like that, Potter, nothing can happen to me in here! I'm going over to Alice and Emmeline."

She got up and moved through the common room as Pettigrew took her place on the couch.

"So?" I said. "Are you letting me go?"

"You're going anyway, aren't you? Why are you asking?"

I sighed. "I don't know... I just wanted your opinion."

"I think you're right," Remus said thoughtfully. "Nothing will happen to you at your parent's house. I don't believe you to be in great danger anyway – oh, come on, Sirius, as if her brother would hurt her!"

"I'm not worried about _her_ brother."

"Reg wouldn't hurt me, he said so himself. I still don't trust the others with this... hell, I don't trust Reg."

We all fell silent for a bit, until Peter said, "So, what are you guys doing in the holidays? Padfoot? Prongs? Are you staying?"

"What do you say, mate?"

"I guess we'll stay... see what Evans does..."

"Maybe she'll come with us?"

"Oh, get real, Prongs!"

"Hey, I don't see why she-"

He was interrupted by a loud scream. We all whirled around to see Marlene McKinnon, a fifth-year girl, tackling down Evans, effectively cutting of her supply of oxygen. Evans' friends were already up to pull the girl of their friend, but to no use. The girl seemed to have developed some kind of super-strength and was not to be moved. Lily struggled underneath the girl, muffled sounds escaping her, hands clawing at Marlene's arms, but then Lily fell limp. We all jumped up as well, Sirius and Potter rushing over. Now four people, they managed to pull Marlene off Evans and pin her to the ground.

"Calm down – calm down, what the hell?"

"Lily? Oh god, Lily!"

Evans was unconscious on the floor and I hurried to her, searching for her pulse. "She's alive, calm down – we need to get her up to the Hospital Wing."

Marlene McKinnon was still struggling against the two boys. "Better bring her up to, I think," Remus said hurriedly.

"Right," Sirius growled. "Not like this, though."

I groaned. "Honestly, are you all cowards?" I pulled out my wand, pointing it at the girl. "_Stupefy_!" At once, she fell limp. "See. Now, let's hurry."

* * *

"And why were you in the Gryffindor tower, Miss Rosier? Last I checked, you were a Slytherin?"

I swallowed hard and quickly looked to Sirius. But he just stared straight ahead. He didn't even blink.

"Well, I... I... I was..."

"She was there on my invitation."

"Mr Lupin?"

Remus nodded quickly. "We're... friends and we had a lot to talk about."

"That was irresponsible of you! No student from another house is allowed in the Gryffindor tower, as you very well know!"

"I know, Professor. I'm sorry."

"Well," Professor McGonagall said slowly. "That's 20 points from Gryffindor, Mr Lupin. And 20 points from Slytherin, of course."

I nodded slowly. That went much better than I had feared. The door to Professor McGonagall's office opened and Dumbledore swooped in. Potter suddenly stirred. "Professor, Sir, what about Lily-"

"Miss Evans is fine. She can return to the common room tomorrow. No severe damage has been caused."

We all heaved a sigh of relief.

"Miss McKinnon is in quite a different position. She seems to be under the influence of the Imperius Curse."

I exchanged a quick look with Sirius. "The Imperius, Sir? But-"

"Someone inside Hogwarts must've put her under the curse. Presumably a student. I have to ask you if you know anything that could help us there."  
I swallowed hard and then I heard Sirius whisper, "Nothing, Sir. We know nothing at all."


	14. March 14, 1977

**I'm back from vacation, which was cool, but I'm also glad to be back. And I don't like being without my laptop. Not one bit.**

**Anyways, thanks to the four people who reviewed, it's greatly appreciated.**

* * *

"Selene! Selene, hey stop for a sec'!"

I turned around, once again faced by my brother. "What do you want?"

"I heard about that Evans girl. She's a friend of yours, isn't she? How is she?"

"She's fine. But that only disappoints you, doesn't it?"

He smiled coldly. "Listen, sister, I don't know how you found out, I don't even care – but stop. Interfering. In my plans."

I squared my shoulders. "And watch as she's being choked by some girl you placed the Imperius on? Too much of a coward to do it yourself? I don't think so."

A slap echoed through the air and it was only then that I realized the sting in my cheek. He had actually hit me. As if in trance I reached up to touch my cheek as he stared at me, somewhat dumbstruck.

"Great," I whispered. "That's what I need my big brother for."

"Problem?"

"Potter," Evan acknowledged coldly.

"Rosier." Potter looked at me quizzically. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Everything's fine. Thanks, James."

Potter nodded slowly. "Great. Then let's go."

I opened my mouth and he said, before I could even make a sound, "Studying, remember? You asked me for help in Transfiguration?"

I caught on to what he was doing and nodded. "Sure. Sure, let's go. Until then, Evan."

I followed Potter up the stairs and around a corner. There, he stopped and looked at me with a sort of worried expression. "Are you okay?" he repeated.

"Yeah. I said so, didn't I?"

"Damn, I saw him hit you, that's not what I understand by everything's fine."

"Doesn't even hurt."

He groaned. "Honestly, Rosier, are you that stupid? Or is there some grand scheme that I'm not figuring out, 'cause just ignoring your own brother is hurting you isn't exactly smart."

I leant against the wall. "Why do you even care?"

"Oh, I don't know, but I've been spending the past weeks watching over you, it's sort of a habit by now."

I snorted. "Yeah, right."

He smiled awkwardly. "Since when are you calling me James anyways?"

"Keeping up appearances. They expect us to be friends."

"How very Slytherin of you."

I laughed. "I heard that before."

He grinned at me. "Okay then. I better get going... Remus is letting me copy his Charms essay, so..."

I shook my head, but smiled. "Sure. Hurry off."

I watched him as he turned the corner and thought that maybe, it wasn't only to keep up appearances after all.

* * *

"I heard Lily Evans was attacked by a fellow Gryffindor."

I didn't even look up from the essay I was writing. "I can imagine that you heard about that."

Reg sighed mockingly. "Will you ever look at me?"

"I don't think so."

He was silent for a moment. "You don't even want to know if it was me?"

"No."

His voice hinted at surprise now. "Why not?"

I put down my quill and finally looked up. "Honestly, Reg, don't you see that I don't want to talk right now?"

"Why not?" he repeated, grey eyes sparkling. Apparently, I had caught his interested with that.

"If it has been you, I don't want to know. See, I don't want to hate you. Most of the time, you just don't leave me any choice... but I don't want to. I really liked you, once. But now – you're one of those people. One of those maniacs. You're like my brother! Obviously, I didn't know you at all! And that hurts. So, if it was you – keep it to yourself. Search someone else who's interested in you bragging about it. It's not me."

His eyebrows rose higher and higher during my tirade and he was now smiling stiffly. "It wasn't me."

"Good to know."

I picked up my quill again in order to return to my essay, but he interrupted me at once. "How's the little mudblood?"

"Don't know who you're talking about."

"Evans, how's Evans?"

"She's fine. I'd be more worried about McKinnon. She still wants to go and choke Lily."

Reg stared at the table before him. "We can't lift the curse. The one who had put it would have to go up to the Hospital Wing and..."

"He should turn himself in."

"Are you nuts?" he exclaimed, but quickly lowered his voice to a normal level as some Ravenclaw girl snapped at him to be quiet. "They're going to Azkaban for this if they're caught."

"Yeah," I said. "That's where they belong."

I grabbed my paper and quill. I wouldn't stay any longer and listen to him. With a sudden movement, Reg grabbed my hand. "Selene, listen, I'm sorry – I should've never threatened you or those other Gryffindors..."

I pulled my hand free. "You know as well as I do, that I can't accept that apology. Not if you're that kind of guy... you better stay away from me."

* * *

"You really said that to him?" Lily asked. We were sitting in the Great Hall, assembled on the Gryffindor table. No one looked at me strangely anymore. I had been sitting here for weeks now.

"I did," I said quietly. "And I don't feel very good about it."

"Nonsense," Sirius said. "He deserves it all!"

"It's just that he wanted to apologize," I muttered. "And I turned him down. It feels wrong."

"You're just too compliant," James said, frowning. "Haven't you told Sirius about your brother?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What about him?"

"Yeah," Sirius said. "What about him?"

I glared at James. "It wasn't anything important."

"Then tell me," Sirius urged. "If it's not important, there's no need keeping it quiet."

"I don't want to tell you."

James groaned. "He hit her. Right there in the hall."

I huffed in annoyance. "Was that really necessary?"

"He hit you? He _hit _you?"

"Straight in the face," James offered.

Sirius' eyes darted over to the Slytherin table. "I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill him for that."

"No," I interrupted him sharply. "No, you won't kill my brother. You'll stay where you are. It was nothing."

"It wasn't nothing!" James exclaimed. "I was right next to you I saw..."

"Shut it, Potter."

James frowned at me, then sighed. "You really are stubborn."

"We have enough problems as it is, I can deal with family problems on my own. And this was a family problem and had nothing to do with the likes of you. I mean it, Sirius," I added as he was still glaring at the Slytherin table. "You'll leave him alone."

* * *

The next morning provided us all with the horror that only war can inflict. As I was putting butter on my toast, a terrified scream sounded through the Great Hall and everyone turned automatically toward the Hufflepuff table, where a girl collapsed onto the table, sobbing hysterically.

"Oh Merlin," Lily whispered next to me. "That's Hazel Carruse. She's in our year."

"What do you think has happened?"

Wordlessly, she handed me the newspaper. _ATTACK ON MUGGLE-BORNS IN EXETER._

My mouth fell open as I read on. Hazel Carruse was the daughter of two muggle-borns. Death Eaters had killed her family; murdered them ruthlessly in their sleep. It was cruel, out of thin air. There was no way to see it coming, for no one. I wondered what Hazel's parents had done to attract attention.

My eyes searched for Sirius, hoping he would have something comforting to say. His eyes were fixed on the Slytherin table, though and as I turned to have a look as well, I saw Reg and my brother talking quietly and both looking incredibly smug.

"Bastards," I whispered.

"Are you sure I'm not allowed to kill him?"

"Absolutely," I answered as he finally met my eyes.

"It's horrible." I turned in my seat to look at Remus who was staring at the Hufflepuff girl, sobbing in the arms of a friend.

I shook my head slightly. "I don't understand... I just don't understand why."

"Why don't you ask my brother, he sure knows an answer," Sirius said bitterly.

"Padfoot-"

"Leave him," I said. "We're all a little irritated right now. If you don't mind... I think I'm finished with my breakfast."

I got up, leaving the Gryffindors and my untouched meal behind.

* * *

**If you've got a review for me, that would be great :D**


	15. April 2, 1977

**I'm sorry for the delay; my beta-reader hasn't yet managed to send me the corrected version, but I didn't want to wait any longer. I'll just edit later when she sent it.**

**Thanks to Gemelina23 for reviewing the last chapter; seriously, though, there are a lot more reading this and I'd appreciate reviews. I won't threaten not to update or something, because that's just ridiculous and I wouldn't follow through anyways, but I would still like more reviews. Pretty please?**

* * *

We were standing in the Entrance Hall, Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter and I, saying our goodbyes. People were chattering around us, hugging their friends, stuffing their owls into cages, frantically searching for their lost books.

The Easter Holidays were finally there and even though I should have been learning, I was looking forward to two weeks in which my OWLs wouldn't be the main topic. Lately, even meeting with the five Gryffindors turned into a study session, because in my lack of actual knowledge, I had to go to them for help. Especially Lily proofed to be very helpful, though her enthusiasm tired me. And now, on the beginning of April, I finally had the chance to escape the insanity.

Lily was standing, arms crossed, in front of the boys. "I'm going to be fine, guys, could you please drop it?"

They were in the middle of a lecture on how she should be very, very careful during the holidays. The boys were right, of course, though Lily wasn't really safe at Hogwarts, either, so the entire talk was rather pointless.

"You have to promise, Lily," James urged. "You have to promise that you'll stay in the house, no trespassing and such, and that you-"

The red-head glared at him. "I promise, all right! I'll stay in all of the time, watching Sesame Street, happy now?"

James turned to Sirius with an utterly confused look on his face. "Do you have any idea what she's talking about?"

Lily groaned. "It's a Muggle thing... I'll be careful, okay. I'll see you all after the holidays. Are you coming, Selene?"

"In a minute."

I turned back to Sirius and his friends. "You have to take care as well... some of them are staying and I wouldn't put it past them to make a move on you guys."

"We can handle them, I think."

"Please, Sirius," I said, meeting his eyes. "Promise. Or I'll worry."

"You'll have nothing to worry about," Remus said softly. "I'll watch over these nut-jobs. Can't have them sneaking out of the common room anyways."

I smiled at him thankfully. "Thanks, Remus. We'll see each other in two weeks."

I briefly hugged Remus, James and Peter, but stopped in front of Sirius. "Sirius, _promise_."

He rolled his eyes but gave in. "Fine. I promise."

"Good."

He quickly pulled me into his arms. "And you take care of yourself, too."

He planted a kiss on my cheek and let me go.

"I will," I said, before grabbing my trunk and following Lily outside.

* * *

By lunchtime, it had started raining. As the trolley passed our compartment, heavy drops were hitting the window as the train rolled on southwards. Lily was busying herself with her Potions book and that left me staring out of the window at the passing landscapes.

Why did my parents want me to come home? _It's a surprise_, Evan had said and refused to say anything else. When I had written to my parents, they didn't answer my question either. Why did they want me to come home? Had I done something crucially wrong? Did they know who I was spending my time with now? Did they feel the need to intervene? Usually, my parents didn't care who I was friends with.

"Stop it!" Lily's voice echoed through our compartment and I flinched violently.

"What?"

"You're tapping onto the window."

I blinked, confused and found my finger pressed to the window. "I didn't realize."

"Sure. Don't you have something to do? Study? Homework? Anything?"

I grinned at her. "Give me one day off, will you, Lily?"

"I expect you won't do anything once I left you alone."

I laughed, she was probably right. "Well, that's my problem, not yours."

She huffed, putting down her book. "So, what were you thinking about?"

"My parents," I answered honestly. "I have no idea why they want me to come home... I mean, sure, I've always come home during the holidays, but they never actually _asked_ me to. I'm a bit worried."

"Because your parents want to see you?" she asked. "That's a bit strange, don't you think?"

I shrugged. "They want to talk. Probably has something to do with up-holding wizarding pride. If that's it, I'm a dead man walking. Or rather a dead girl, associating with people like Sirius... or you."

She sighed. "Sorry for getting you in trouble."

"It's not you who's getting me in trouble. It's them."

"I'd say it's her."

We both flinched and turned to the door. My brother had entered, followed by Avery and Mulciber. They were looming behind him and I noticed they had already pulled out their wands. Both of them were rather tall, heavy guys but also not very bright. I wondered since when exactly Evan had bodyguards.

"What do you want, Evan?"

"I want you to come sit with us."

I swallowed hard. "I don't think so."

He took a step towards me. "Let me rephrase: You _will_ come sit with us and leave the mudblood alone."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Let _me_ rephrase, Evan: fuck off."

For a split second, I saw his hand reaching for his wand but in the next moment, he was thrown back and his two friends only just could hold him on his legs. My eyes searched for Lily, who had pointed her wand straight at Evan and had obviously cast the spell nonverbally.

I stared for a moment, as did the boys, until Evan suddenly yelled, "You fucking mudblood-"

I jumped up and right in front of him as he prepared to lunge at Lily. He tried to push past me, but I put both my hands on his chest and pushed. I wasn't nearly strong enough to really push him away, but he stopped nonetheless.

"I suggest you all get out of here, now. You don't want to do this on the train, anyway, do you? Now get out, or –"

"Or what? What are you going to do?"

"I'll tell mum and dad all about your little plan! Do you think they'll be happy if they know that you're risking to be expelled?"

He stared at me, eyes widening slightly. "You wouldn't."

"Oh yes, I would. I dare you, Evan."

He glared at me and Lily, eyes travelling from one to the other. Finally, he squared his shoulders. "Fine. Have it your way. But I'm not finished with you, mudblood."

With that, he shoved me back a little but turned and left, followed by the two boys.

I took a deep, calming breath. "I'm sorry..."

"Oh, don't."

I sighed, trying not to think about the fact that I would have to put up with Evan for the next two weeks.

"That was pretty badass from you, though," I said, sitting down opposite to Lily again. "I never knew you could do nonverbal spells."

"I've been practicing a lot," she said with a small smile and a shrug.

I nodded, not at all surprised. Of course Lily would practice a lot, of course she would manage to do it. I doubted even Sirius and James could do it and they were both pretty good.

"Why, that sure took him by surprise."

She nodded, smiling slightly and leant back in her seat. "Sure it did. He would never expect a masterpiece like that from a mudblood."

I frowned. "Don't call yourself that."

"And why not? Mudblood and proud of it."

She turned her face away and stared out of the window while I didn't quite know what to say to that. As the silence expanded, I frantically searched for another subject and finally settled on the possibly dumbest question that came to mind.

"So... how are things going between James and you?"

She flinched and turned to look at me with a large frown. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, I don't know... he fancies you – but... you know... he's not that bad a guy."

She stared at me as if I was crazy. "James Potter is the most immature, arrogant and unnerving prick I have ever met."

I grinned. "You know what they say, Lily. You only tease the ones you love."


	16. Maundy Thursday, 1977

**Thank you for the three reviews from last week, it's appreciated :)**

* * *

"Get down here, now!"

I stormed down the stairs and into the parlour. "WHAT?"

I regretted my harshness immediately, as my parents were not alone. In fact, they were with Mr and Mrs Black. And their son.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be late," I said stiffly, trying hard not to look at Reg. "What did you require of me?"

My father glared at me. "Sit."

I sighed and went to sit beside my mother.

"We have to tell you something."

I looked around for any sign as to what I had to expect. "And what would that be, father?"

"We're happy to tell you that we made a very promising arrangement. You and Regulus are going to be married."

It took a moment until the words sunk in and my mouth dropped open. Oh no, he didn't!

"What do you say?"

"I'm – I'm not sure..."

"But you and Regulus already were couple."

_But we broke up!_ I bit back my heated answer and looked up to meet Reg's eyes. "Can I speak to you alone?"

"Selene," my mother snapped. "That is hardly appropriate."

"I can promise you that it will be very strictly appropriate," I said, trying to keep my voice calm. I got up and made for the door. I turned around when I found Reg wasn't following me. "Are you coming, or what?"

Reg looked quickly at his father. "If you don't mind."

Orion Black nodded without even looking at his son, who got up and finally followed me outside.

The door to the parlour fell shut behind him. "Have you gone mad? I'm not going to marry you!"

"And why not? We already were a couple," he said, smiling coldly.

"But we broke up!" I exclaimed finally able to say that out loud. "You're going to be a Death Eater, you tried to murder a girl, I'm not going to marry you!"

"And what do you plan to do then? Tell your parents no? Good luck with that, sweetheart."

"Oh, no, don't you 'sweetheart' me!" I didn't know yet what I would do. I knew I wasn't going to tell my parents no. It wasn't possible. But if I had to... I'd run away. I had friends to take me in, after all. James had offered that without any need before the holidays.

"You'd be disowned," he said carefully, taking a step towards me. "Who'd take you then? My brother? Please tell me you wouldn't sink that low."

"Leave Sirius out of this!"

"Oh, I forgot. You and my brother have a thing now."

"We do not."

He smirked at me. "You made quite the effort to keep him safe, though."

"It was mainly about Evans."

"Sure," Reg said, making me wish that I could wipe that smirk of his face.

"But if this is what you want," he said, shrugging. "I won't be in your way. Go ahead, spend your life constantly watching your back, 'cause you'll have no one to protect you. I sure won't tell the others to spare you anymore."

My head shot up and I stared at him. "Are you threatening me?"

"Not only you," he said calmly, still smiling at me. "I can't wait to finally get to my brother... or his stupid blood-traitor friends."

"If I marry you," I asked softly. "You'll leave them alone. All of you?"

"Yes."

"And you'll leave Evans alone?"

He hesitated. "I can't promise that."

"You're going to have to!"

He eyed me for a few moments and then said, "Is that all?"

"And we're not getting married until we're out of school."

"I can live with that."

I sighed heavily. Why was I doing this? "Fine."

"If I leave them alone," he said, taking another step. "You gonna keep away from my brother and his friends?"

"They're-"

"Are you?"

I swallowed hard. "Yes."

"And you're gonna play the good little girl, yeah? Be my fiancée for real? We're gonna be a couple?"

I met his eyes for a split second and repeated, "Yes."

He smiled and for the first time today, it reached his eyes. "Splendid." He leant forward and quickly kissed me on the cheek.

"Let's tell our parents."

* * *

It seemed like my parents knew no greater joy than to see their daughter engaged. I couldn't help but be offended. They obviously thought that I could never be left on my own, that I had to have someone look after me. They were pretty satisfied with themselves, especially since "they" managed to get me betrothed to a Black. ("Such luck," my mother repeated over and over.)

Only my brother's smile seemed to be frozen that evening even as he hugged me in congratulation. He wasn't happy at all. Maybe he felt like I got rewarded for my "bad behaviour". He didn't know that it wasn't a reward at all. Quite the contrary. I actually hoped that no one could see that in my forced smile.  
Reg's expression was smugger than ever. He had what he wanted. Me, as far away from his brother as possible. How should I ever explain to Sirius? And James? And Lily? Remus and Peter? They'd never understand. Sirius would be the least understanding of all. He never got the concept of adapting to circumstances.

"You all right?" I looked up to Reg, who frowned at me.

"Peachy," I muttered and he huffed.

"No need to lie to me, sweetheart. What're you worrying about?"

I met his eyes and squared my shoulders. "I guess we should get this straight better sooner than later: just because we're getting married doesn't mean I don't have any privacy."

"Honey, I was merely-"

"Let me rephrase, Reg. None of your business."

His eyebrows shot up and he looked around before leaning a bit closer. "Cool it down a bit, Selene. We don't want to appear to be arguing now, do we?"

"Of course not," I bit out and he smirked.

"You obviously think that I'm the bad guy. I'm not. You're actually better off with me than with-"

"I know," I interrupted him, trying hard to keep my voice down. "That doesn't really make it better, though."

He shrugged and turned to the door as right then, the Lestranges arrived, or at least Bellatrix and her husband. Our mothers had planned the engagement party before either of us had confirmed it. Bellatrix swept towards me and threw her arms around me.

"I'm so proud, darling! A real Black! Both my cousins together, this news was really splendid!" She now hugged Reg who seemed much less at ease now.

"Thank you, Bella," he said and she smiled brightly before turning back to me.

"I knew you would come to your senses eventually. From what Evan told me, I was already thinking you'd become a blood-traitor like that boy..."

"Sirius," I offered, pretending that she had forgotten the name.

She arched an eyebrow and smiled coldly. "Yeah. I was really worried."

"No need," I answered. "I know my duty."

"Duty," Bellatrix repeated shrilly, "It's not a duty, it's an honour to serve the family-"

"We all know that, Bella," Reg interrupted and both my glance and Bella's shot towards him in surprise. Bella stared at him, perplexed for a few seconds until she regained her composure.

"Certainly," she answered, calm again. "You'll excuse me? I have to greet my aunt." With that, she turned and strode further into the room.

I breathed out in relief. "Thank you."

Reg cast a quick glance at me and replied, "Well – that's my duty, isn't it? Looking out for you..."

I looked at him, not quite sure what to say to that. "I'm sorry I said that. It was rude."

"It's how you feel," he said, shrugging. "And understandably so."

"Still, I-"

"Don't worry about me. I'll have loads of time to change your mind. In fact, I'll have the rest of our lives."

* * *

**Tell me what you think, please :)**


	17. April 17, 1977

**Thank you for the reviews from last week. Good to know that it wasn't predictable ;)**

* * *

Our return to school was horrifying. I saw Lily waiting for me on the platform and I saw how her face fell as she spotted me with him. Reg had wrapped an arm around my waist and in front of all the people, including my parents and several Slytherins, I didn't dare to free myself.

He didn't care that I remained silent during the whole train journey and even as we climbed on the carriages.

As we entered the castle, the Entrance Hall was already filled with students greeting each other. I wanted nothing more than get to the common room and hide myself away.

Suddenly, I heard a much too familiar voice calling. "Selene! There you - what's going on?"

I swallowed hard as Reg wound a possessive arm around my waist. "Didn't you hear?" he asked his brother. "We're getting married."

"WHAT?"

Sirius' eyes were fixed on me, incredulous, hurt, and angry. I nodded weakly.

"I don't... what are you thinking?"

"I don't know, brother," Reg said coldly. "I think it's something along the lines that she actually likes me."

"I can talk for myself, you know," I snapped at him and Reg raised an amused eyebrow.

"Yeah? What would you like to say?"

I groaned. "I'm going to go find Callie and Maia." Time to fake-apologize for the time I fake-wasted with Sirius. I needed some friends after all.

Reg smirked at me. "Do that. I'll see you later"

"Selene-" Sirius had grabbed my arm to stop me from leaving. "What's going on? I know you'd never-"

_"Impedimenta!"_

With a jolt, Sirius flew back and dropped to the ground a few feet away. I let out a shocked gasp as Reg walked over to his brother. "You stay away from my fiancée."

"Reg," I exclaimed, rushing over and catching his hand to stop him from using his wand once again. "Relax, nothing happened."

"He touched you."

"He didn't hurt me or anything. Please, calm down. It's not like he actually did something wrong."

"I don't want you anywhere near him."

Our eyes met and I knew I couldn't win this argument as for now. It was best for all of us if I just gave in. "All right," I said softly.

Sirius eyes widened and I pulled on Reg's arm. "Come on... come on, let's go to the common room."

He nodded carefully and decided to follow me. I tried to suppress my huge sigh of relief as I pulled him away from Sirius.

"That... bastard... how dare he..."

"Relax," I repeated. "Nothing's happened."

Suddenly, he had pushed me against the wall and I was trapped between him and the cold stone. "You're not going to be anywhere near him, right? You're not gonna be friends anymore... you promised."

I watched him, trying to hold my expression emotionless. I did this for all our safety, after all. Did it for Lily, for James, for Remus, Peter... for Sirius, after all. "Yes. I promised. I'm going to keep my promise."

He stared at me and finally said, "Good."

I looked up at him, suddenly uncomfortable with his close proximity. No matter how angry I was at him, there was no point denying I was _attracted_ to him. And I couldn't deal with it. Not then and there.

"Please take a step back, Reg."

"Why?" he teased. "Am I – too close?"

"Stop it," I said, as firmly as I could. "Let's go to the common room."

Mercifully, he stepped back and held out his hand for me. "Yeah," he said. "Let's go."

* * *

Callie and Maia returned to being my friends as fast as they had broken off our friendship before. It fully convinced me that they were no real friends for that matter. In the meantime, though, I had no one else, so I decided to settle with it no matter what. In fact, they now felt the need to "catch up", meaning they told me literally everything they had talked about in the past few weeks. Only when we headed for Charms I managed to get rid of them for a while because I pretended to have forgotten my book in the common room.

I turned around the next corner and leant against the wall.

"What? Not with your fiancé?"

I looked up and saw Sirius glaring at me. "Sirius," I whispered. "We can't talk here, if Reg finds me with you-"

"What's he going to do, huh? Send you flying through the hallway as well?"

I sighed. "Well, you never know. Let's just-"

"Come on," he interrupted me, leading the way. "There's an empty classroom just down the corridor."

I followed him down the hallway until he stopped, holding open the door for me. "No need to be chivalrous."

"Right. You have your fiancé to do that now, don't you?"

He closed the door and whispered something that sounded indefinitely like "_Muffliato!_"

"So," he said as he turned back to me. "You wanted to talk. Go ahead."

I sighed again. "Look... I'm sorry, but I wasn't able to tell you before, owls are not safe-"

"No need to tell me that you're back in love with my brother."

"I'm not in love with your brother!" I snapped.

"But you're going to marry him!" he yelled and I flinched at his sudden outburst.

"Yes, I am," I answered with a pitifully small voice. "To protect us all."

Sirius frowned at me. "What're you talking about?"

"He promised that he would leave you all alone, including Lily. None of us will be in danger anymore."

"How can he promise that? What about the others?"

"It's rather simple. He's going to get them to agree, and if they're not willing to accept, we're going to blow off the engagement. Reg won't want that. My brother won't want that. You're safe," I concluded.

"I don't bloody care about me!" he yelled and once again, I flinched a bit.

"Well, I do," I answered. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine."

"No, no, you're not fine! You're engaged to a Death Eater! You're anything but fine."

"It could be worse."

He shook his head, his dark gray eyes glinting with anger. "This is wrong. You shouldn't have to do this..."

"Why, we all have to do things that we don't want, right?" My eyes met his, but he quickly looked away.

"This ruins it all."

"Ruins what?"

He looked up again and now he didn't seem angry anymore. Only... disappointed. "I thought I had time. Thought I had won. Obviously... I was wrong."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

He took another step toward me, reaching out. His fingers traveled lightly over my left arm while his other arm wrapped around my waist.

"This is what I'm talking about," he answered.

He leant forward and pressed his lips against mine.

I couldn't help it. I responded to his kiss, melting into him, not caring that it was wrong, that I was engaged _to his brother_, not caring about any consequences. I felt his tongue gracing my bottom lip and allowed him to deepen the kiss, wrapping my arms around his neck. His fingers wound themselves in my hair, holding me to him. It was only when the need to breathe could no longer be ignored that we broke apart.

The look in his eyes was fathomless as he looked down at me. He brought his hand up and his thumb carefully stroked over my lips. It was then that I realized what I had been doing.

I stepped away from him and watched as his arms fell to his side and the disappointed look returned. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I - you - we can't."

"End it," Sirius urged, "Tell him that you blow off the deal!"

I shook my head. As alluring as it sounded, it wasn't possible. No matter what had happened between us. "No."

"We can protect you, we have and we will-"

"They were so close already!" I interrupted him, tears pooling in my eyes now. "They'll manage to kill us all! And I won't... won't let them do it. Not if I can stop them, Sirius. Please... please don't make this even harder."

I wanted to walk past him, to escape, but his hand gripped my upper arm. "Don't run out on me."

"We've finished our conversation, Sirius, I want to go."

"I'll think of something," he said lowly, his eyes boring into mine.

I sighed and gently removed his hand from my arm. "I'm sorry," I said once again before walking past him and out the door.

* * *

**Do tell me, please - Team Reg or Team Sirius? ;)**


	18. May 6, 1977

**Thanks to everyone who reviewd the last chapter :) Seems more of you like Sirius... so I apologize for what's coming... ;) **

* * *

It was so early in the morning, none of the other Slytherins seemed to be up as for now. I stared in the fire and let my thoughts drift away. Preparation for the OWLs got really serious now and during the day, I barely had time to _think_.

I couldn't get Sirius out of my mind. I could still smell him, still taste him in my mind, yet it had been weeks that I hadn't even spoken to him. The moment I had walked out of the classroom, I had sworn to myself that I would keep my promise. I would stay with Reg, for my own and more importantly for their sake.

"Happy birthday!"

I looked up and saw Reg dropping in a chair opposite to me.

"Thank you."

"I've got something for you, naturally." He pulled out a small package and handed it to me. "It's not of much worth, you see, but I thought it has some... sentimental value..."

I unwrapped it and found a photograph inside. It showed a small, dark-haired boy who was lightly pulling his blonde companion's pigtails. The girl didn't seem to care; she was looking around for something. Or rather someone. I remembered the day that picture had been taken and-

"I think Sirius was on it as well, but obviously he didn't want to stay in there," Reg replied to my unspoken question.

"Well," I said. "He always was a free spirit." Reg grinned and I responded with a smile. "It's beautiful. Thank you very much."

"It's nothing, really. I found it during the holidays," Reg continued on with his explanation. "It reminded me of happier times."

My eyes met his and I nodded. "Sure. But that's what childhood is, right? A happier time. No worries..."

Reg shrugged. "You don't have to worry now, either."

I met his eyes, frowning and he smiled. "That's present number two. I got them all to agree now... though, it's mostly thanks to your brother. He can be quite persuasive."

"I would believe so," I answered dryly.

Reg leant forward and caught my hand in his. "I kept my end of the deal, right? This is what you wanted..."

I nodded. "This is what I wanted."

"Good." He smiled again and pulled my hand up to kiss my knuckles. "I'm glad you agreed."

"Yeah," I answered. "Me, too."

He grinned and let go of my hand. "So, what do you say? Breakfast?"

* * *

I hated it that my birthday was actually on a school day – had been for years. Even though I didn't feel like celebrating much, I felt that I had deserved something good that day. Yet the double period of potions, followed by Ancient Runes and Transfiguration didn't exactly help with that. I wondered how I should ever, ever manage my OWLs. It was pointless. And since I couldn't ask Sirius anymore, Transfiguration would be the worst of all.

I decided that no matter if it was my birthday or not, I had to go to the library to learn for Transfiguration. The more time I invested in it, the better it would get, right?

It was so that I ended up behind a wall of books in the library, trying desperately to get some advice out of it. It was impossible. I would fail, miserably fail.

I felt like I could downright cry. My father prided himself with this Transfiguration skills. What would he say if I failed that subject?

"Selene!"

"Sweet Merlin, what are you _doing_ here?"

I looked up, pushing a pile of books to the side. Maia and Callie were standing in front of the desk I was sitting at, staring with wide eyes.

"What does it look like? I'm learning."

Maia's eyebrows rose to extreme heights. "But it's your birthday!"

I groaned. "The OWLs..."

"Oh, forget about the OWLs!" Callie exclaimed and stepped around the desk to pull me up. "It's your special day and we've got to celebrate!"

"I don't want to celebrate!"

"Yes, yes, you do! There's a party going on in the common room-"

"What?" I shrieked. "You organized a party?"

"Well – yes," Maia said. "Though it's not officially for you. Unofficially, of course, but honestly, not all Slytherins want to celebrate a fifth-year's birthday, so we just organized a party-"

"Whatever," Callie interrupted. "It's not a real party without you, so you're going."

With that, she grabbed my forearm and pulled me away from the desk, through the library.

"Callie, I really don't want to-"

"I told you, I don't care what you want. It's your birthday, there's a party, so we're partying. Besides, Reg will be there."

Great.

"I see Reg every day."

"Oh come on, Selene! Don't be such a buzz kill!"

Maia had caught up to us and she was literally buzzing with excitement. "It's going to be great, I promise! Callie had her boyfriend organize the firewhiskey again and he promised we would get some! Also, that sixth-year, Decima Greengrass, said she'd take care of the music and you know how she has a _great_ taste in music-"

"All right," I interrupted her. "I'm not even complaining."

There really was a party. I pitied the younger students a bit who probably would want to sleep tonight, other than the rest of the house. I figured that I pitied myself for the same reason. Then again, it was my birthday! I could do with some fun after all.

"So," Maia said, grinning widely. "What do you say?"

"It's awesome, guys. Thanks."

"Not for that, honey. Basil, over here-"

With that, Callie vanished into the crowd.

"Oh, she's incredible – she promised she wouldn't spend the evening with Basil-"

"It's quite all right," I said and laughed at Maia's horrified look. "She loves him."

Maia sighed heavily. "You're both so lucky – you're _engaged_ to Reg and I don't even... I need a drink."

Maia, too, pushed into the crowd and soon vanished from my gaze. I looked around and found Reg standing with my brother and Snape. They were whispering to each other and then they started laughing. I sighed and shook my head. I would need a drink, too, the sooner the better. Maybe I would get lucky and she'd bring one. I didn't count on it.

I turned around and wondered if they'd drag me down here again if I managed to get up into the dormitories. I could cast a silencing spell and get the books out again.

Suddenly, someone's hands covered my eyes. "Who am I?"

I let out a shaky laugh. "Reg... didn't hear you coming."

He lowered his hands and I turned to look at him. "Well, it's quite loud."

"Yeah... that's probably it."

"So – was that your idea?" he gestured to the people around us.

"No, it wasn't – Maia and Callie, they-"

"It's... lovely."

I chuckled. "Right."

"The thought that counts," he offered, still grinning.

"Absolutely. So – have you seen Maia? She took off for a drink and I hoped she'd bring one..."

"What do you want?"

"I don't – yes, I do know," I interrupted myself. "Something strong."

He frowned a little, but laughed. "All right. Just wait a second."

He disappeared into the crowd but returned moments later with two glasses of firewhiskey. "There you go..."

"Thank you."

"That's just me, taking care of my fiancée."

I rolled my eyes. "It's appreciated."

I took a sip of the whiskey and shuddered as I felt the strong liquid running down my throat.

"I hope you can take that."

"Had it before."

He shrugged and took a sip himself, merely swallowing as if it was water. "Just go slow with that, all right?"

"You're overdoing it, Reg. I don't need a guardian."

"A guardian angel, maybe."

"In this case I have to go searching again."

He chuckled, shaking his head slightly. "Let's just not fight tonight, okay? It's your birthday, after all."

I frowned a little. "Actually, I don't want to fight with you at all."

He met my eyes and smirked. "You just can't help yourself, or what?"

"Something like that."

Reg grinned. "Wouldn't want you any other way."

"Great."

He took a step closer to me. "I know you're far from happy-"

"I'm all right, though," I answered, meeting his eyes again as he reached out to lightly trace his hand over my cheek.

"Sure?"

"Yes."

He leant forward and pressed his lips to mine. It was weird, because it was still so familiar. Before I knew it, my arms wound around his neck and his hand were tightly gripping my waist, pulling me closer to him as his lips moved over mine.

"Gosh, get a room you two!"

I broke away, turning for Maia who stood next to us, shaking her head.

"Seriously, guys, you've got a lifetime to do that, just take the time to – take it somewhere else."

* * *

**On a different note - my beta-reader abandoned me. I don't really blame her, seen as she's really busy and all, but now here I am without anyone to beta this. Any of you interested, maybe?**


	19. June 17, 1977

**So... I didn't get a single review for the last chapter. I was kind of disappointed. Did I do something wrong? Say something offending? Please tell me so I can make it better. **

* * *

After a night of lying awake, turning from side to side, I decided that there was only one solution: I had to accept reality and just enjoy the good parts. There was no reason worrying about kissing my own fiancé!

I followed through with my decision, which lead Reg to seem happier than ever. In all honesty, I also felt happier than I had in a long while. Not even the OWLs could rain on my parade.

I felt that I had passed Herbology and Charms. Transfiguration was horrific, just as I had foreseen. Potions was all right, though. The last exam was Defence Against the Dark Arts. The written part was all right, but I was obviously horrific in the practical part. My Boggart, which had always been a werewolf, had changed - it was a large figure with the palest skin I had ever seen and glowing red eyes. In an afterthought, I figured it had been the Dark Lord himself. While I was at it, I was so perplexed - and scared - that I wasn't able to do anything and failed miserably.

Reg tried to cheer me up afterwards. "That can happen," he said. "You were scared."

"But that's the point of a Boggart, isn't it? I don't understand why I couldn't do it... "

"What did you see?"

I swallowed hard. "Something horrible. You wouldn't understand."

He shrugged and pulled me closer to him with his arm around my shoulders. "Don't you worry too much, will you? I'm sure you still passed."

"And if I didn't? I already failed Transfiguration."

"You don't know that either-"

"Yes, I do! I've only managed to pass when I learned with Sir- I mean... Well, anyways, I won't continue on with Transfiguration. Not like I'll ever need it or anything."

Reg frowned at me, but he didn't say anything. It's what we did these days. Whenever Sirius was mentioned in any context whatsoever, we would drop the subject immediately. It was sad, in a way, to know that even the remainders of our friendship were now ruined. But bringing the Black brothers together was like trying to keep two repelling poles together.

"Hey - Selene? Hey. Wait." I stopped and saw Lily Evans hurrying towards me.

"What do you want?"

"No need for hostility. I hoped we could have a talk."

"No, we can't."

She sighed and ran a hand through her auburn hair. "And why?"

I swallowed hard, regretting my words even before they were out. "Because you're a fucking Mudblood and I don't want to be seen with you."

Lily's face fell, but the sad impression was replaced by a mask of determination. "Fine. There's a concealed passage right here-"

She pulled away a hanging and gestured for me to step inside. "You don't have to be seen with me, but we have to talk."

I sighed, but stepped inside.

"There we go," she said, letting the hanging fall shut behind her. "Now we talk."

"What do you want, Lily?"

"We're worried about you."

I frowned at her. "There's no need to be worried - I told Sirius-"

"That's part of it," she interrupted me. "Sirius won't talk about you, even when we ask. The boys tried to get him to say what had happened, but he just won't-"

"Talk, I know," I said. "It's all right if he doesn't talk about me. I don't want him to. I want him to let it go, forget about me at best."

"That he doesn't talk doesn't mean that he doesn't think, Selene. He's worried-"

"He's jealous, Lily," I said matter-of-factly. "That's all. I can't worry about that! I can't, I don't want to and I won't."

I turned to leave, but she grabbed my arm. I never knew that she had that much strength. "How can you be so cold? Don't you care about him?"

I took a deep breath. "I don't care about him, and I don't care about any of you. Let me go."

"You're lying."

"How do you know?"

"We were friends," she said, green eyes sparking. "That doesn't just go away."

I freed my arm - with a lot of effort - and shook my head. "I don't know what you want to hear."

"The real reason why you're with Regulus. And the real reason why Sirius is brooding."

I met her eyes, trying to figure out why she wouldn't stop. "Maybe I'm with Reg because I love him, have you ever thought about that?"

"I have. It just doesn't make much sense."

I groaned. Lily was far too clever for her own good. Or my own good, for that matter. "Look, being with him means safety. For me and for all of you. Especially for you."

Her eyes widened as she realized what I said. "You stopped them from attacking me."

"It's his wedding gift, sort of. It's the least I could do, after everything."

She shook her head. "You shouldn't. Shouldn't do this for us."

"Oh yes, I should. Sirius should better get used to it, because there's nothing he can do."

I watched her as all the fight, anger and determination that had filled her before were draining out of her. "This is," she muttered, "madness. There has to be another way."

"No. No, there's not and now please drop it. I have to go."

"Wait," she said as I already had my hand on the hanging. ""You can't do this to Sirius - not like this. He loves you."

"Nonsense," I said. "But as we are on topic - how are things going with James?"

I saw her blush and new that I had hit a nerve. "There isn't anything going... on... with James."

"Sure," I answered. "And I am Merlin."

* * *

"Why are you so late?"

"I got held up."

"By who?"

"Err... Professor... Slughorn?"

Reg frowned at me. "What did he want?"

"Oh, you know, the usual... how am I doing, what about my parents, he heard from someone that my uncle and so on."

Reg didn't seem fully convinced, but thankfully, he let it drop. "I was worried you were still upset about the OWLs."

"No - no, I mean - can't change it now, right?"

"Right," he said, smiling slightly. "Listen, I thought about the holidays. How about you come over to my place for a week or so? My parents would sure be delighted."

"I don't really-"

He looked at me, disappointment clearly written over his face, so I quickly changed what I had planned to say.

"I don't really know when my parents plan to go on vacation. But I could send an owl and inquire?"

A smile spread over his face. "You want to?"

"Sure," I said. "It'll be lovely."

* * *

My thoughts were circling around my conversation with Lily for days after. I regretted my harsh words and hoped that she had seen through the facade.

On Saturday morning, I finally found the time to send that owl to my parents. I didn't really know how I would bear to spend a week under the same roof as Reg's parents. Also, I didn't doubt that Reg had his reasons for inviting me – and that they might actually involve more than just hanging out. But now that I had promised, there was no going back on my word.

I tied my letter to the leg of a brown school owl that gave me a piercing stare before spreading its wings and taking off through the window. I stepped to the window and watched as the owl soared over the lake, headed south and after a while disappeared from sight.

I sighed, turning around and walked towards the door, carefully avoiding owl excrements on the floor. I reached the door shit-free and proceeded down the stairs. I definitely had doubts about the whole vacation thing, but now it was too late. My parents would sure agree. In fact, they'd love the idea.

I gave a startled yelp as I stumbled. For a moment, I imagined myself falling all the way to the bottom of the stairs, breaking bones in the process – but luckily, I was caught.

Whoever it was laughed loudly as I fell into them. "Whoa, easy there!"

I jumped back, immediately, flushing red out of embarrassment before I looked up to see who had caught me. My mouth opened in shock as I saw grey eyes widen.

Sirius stared at me; his laugh had already faded, but it still rang in my ears. He stared at me, silent as I was and I saw him swallowing.

"T-thank you," I whispered.

He didn't answer me, but took a deep breath and then passed me, leaving me behind on the stairs.


	20. August 24, 1977

**So, thanks to Gemelina23 for reviewing the last chapter and to the two people who alerted this in the past week. Seriously, though, I know a lot more people read this and don't review and I'd really appreciate a few comments. **

* * *

"Good morning, Mr Black," I said politely as I sat down at the kitchen table.

Orion Black didn't give any sign that he heard me, or that he even was aware I was there. If they had treated Sirius like that his whole life, I could understand why he had gone. Reg entered the kitchen, greeting me with a wide smile. He fell down in a chair next to me and leant over to kiss me on the cheek. I blushed – which was ridiculous, considering last night – and rolled my eyes at him for being so happy so early in the morning.

"Aren't you going to greet me, son? Where are your manners?"

I watched as Reg immediately shrunk a few inches at the stern voice of his father.

"I'm sorry, father. I meant no disrespect."

Mr Black huffed and raised his newspaper again. Underneath the table, I took Reg's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Right then, Kreacher bustled into the kitchen and he dropped the mail on the kitchen table. "A few letters for Master Black," he said, bowing deeply even though Mr Black didn't look at him. "And letters from Hogwarts for the young master and Milady Rosier..."

"Thank you, Kreacher." Reg took the letters from the small house-elf who turned and proceeded to finish the breakfast.

Reg handed me mine and then ripped open his. "Results," he mumbled.

I tore open the envelope and pulled out the sheets inside. The first was, in fact, the OWL results.

_Charms – E_

_Transfiguration – P_

_Defence Against the Dark Arts – A_

_Herbology – E_

_Potions – E_

_History of Magic – P_

_Study of Ancient Runes – O_

_Divination – A_

"Six," I muttered, relieved.

"Yeah? I made seven. Passed Transfiguration," he added, looking over my shoulder. "Failed divination but passed History of Magic..."

I shrugged and folded the paper again. "You were always cleverer than me."

"It was just luck."

I smiled at his attempt to make me feel better, even though it wasn't necessary. With six OWLs, my parents would be more than happy; even my failure in Transfiguration wouldn't bother them much.

"Seven?" said a shrill voice from the doorway and we both looked up to see Mrs Black standing there, looking at us.

"Yes," Reg said, and I saw him shrink again.

"Why," she said, stepping further inside, "at least that's better than what... that stupid kid... did."

Before I could stop myself, I answered, "Sirius is just lazy, not dumb."

Everyone stared at me and I could see Mrs Black torn between her good manners and hysteria that I mentioned the name.

"We don't mention that name around here," she said after a few tense moments.

I thought about telling her that she was a horrible mother – or a horrible woman in the whole – but I swallowed my anger down. "Beg your pardon."

Kreacher let a pan with bacon flop onto the table. "Breakfast is ready."

* * *

"I am sorry," Reg said as we climbed the stairs. "They tend to be a little hostile."

"I don't care how they treat _me_, Reg. I go home in a few days. I worry about you..."

"Come on, it's not that bad."

I raised an eyebrow at him and he sighed heavily.

"They're really not that bad if you adapt-"

I stopped abruptly and he came to a stop two steps on top of me.

"And what if you don't?" I asked. "I saw what happened to your brother and I fully understand him. I would've done the same in his place."

"Sirius wanted to get into fights, he wanted them to hate him-"

"No, he just wanted to be who he is and they wouldn't let him. Don't try to make this sound like it was his fault."

Reg ran a hand through his hair and sighed again. "Look, Selene, you don't really know my brother-"

"I know your brother well enough, thank you very much. He's not the bad guy around here."

"Why don't you go to him, then?"

"Maybe I should."

I passed him on the stairs, and he grabbed my arm. "You don't mean that, do you?"

I took a deep breath as I met his eyes. "We're fighting, Reg. Of course I don't mean it."

* * *

"So," Reg said, clearly wanting to fill the silence. My eyes didn't leave my book, but I didn't keep on reading; interested what he would say.

"Would you... er... like to go shopping? Now that the letters are there-"

I looked up at him above my book. "I think I'll go shopping with Maia and Callie once I'm home."

"Oh... sure."

I returned to my book, waiting for his next try.

"So... what do you want to do, then?"

"Actually," I answered, "I'd like to read my book."

"You could do that when I'm not with you."

"Honey, I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you, won't I ever be allowed to read a book?"

He stared at me for a moment, then he grinned. "Never."

"Never?"

"Never ever."

I grinned at him. "I'll have to do it in secret, then."

"So we're keeping secrets now?"

"That's terrible."

"Our marriage is ruined," he said.

"Maybe you should let me read, then."

"I'll think about it."

I grinned again and let my book fall shut. "Seriously, I'd just like to enjoy that we don't have anything to do. School starts so soon and all the teachers will torment us with NEWT preparations-"

"How about we get a picnic rug and go out into the garden-"

"You own a picnic rug?" I asked. In my mind, I tried to picture Mr and Mrs Black out in the garden, having a picnic. The idea itself seemed ridiculous.

Reg shrugged. "I don't know, honestly, but there's pretty much everything in this house. We'll just ask Kreacher."

* * *

Of course, Kreacher had found us a picnic rug – "Everything, Kreacher'll get young master Black everything he needs..." – and were now out in the garden, the sun burning down on us as I fell back onto the rug and sighed contently. "This is lovely."

"It's nice," Reg confirmed as he lay down next to me. "I rarely go out here."

"You guys aren't the type for sunlight, are you?"

He gave a loud laugh. "Not really, no."

They had a nice, big garden, though and I thought it a shame that they wouldn't use it. Then again, what would they do out here? Merlin forbid that anyone saw them smiling.

Reg moved abruptly so he was now lying on his side, looking at me. "Do you really have to go on Friday?"

"Yeah."

He sighed. "I'd like for you to stay..."

"Patience is a virtue, you know?"

"I'm not very virtuous."

Now it was my turn to laugh. "Believe me, I noticed."

He grinned and was suddenly on top of me, his arm on either side of my head.

"Do you want to elaborate?"

"Not really."

He smirked at me. "Forgotten already? Maybe I should remind you..." He gave me a quick peck on the lips and then brought his index finger to my lips. "I kissed you here...," the finger wandered down to my jaw line and then over my neck, "and here...," he ran the finger town my collarbone and then it ghosted over my breast, "and here...," it wandered down my belly and I whimpered slightly as I remembered, very well remembered how his lips had felt on their way down, "and here," by now his finger was drawing circles on my inner thigh. "Do you remember?"

"Reg," I muttered.

"What?"

"Kiss me already, will you?"

He grinned at me, but bent down and pressed his lips against mine. I sighed against him as I returned his kiss. His tongue traced my lower lip and I gladly opened my mouth to let him in. The feeling of his tongue against mine was intoxicating, his scent invading my mouth...

"REGULUS!"

We both flinched and Reg sat up immediately, eyes wide. I only just managed to sit up before Mrs Black had reached us. "Up – up! How dare you! I expected better of you, Regulus."

"Mother, I'm-"

"Go to your room! There'll be consequences, don't you doubt it!"

He shot me an apologetic look, but had no other choice but to leave while Mrs Black turned to me.

"And you, girl! What would your parents think?"

_That I'm in love?_ I bit my lip hard before I could say something stupid. Luckily, she seemed to think it a shame-filled gesture.

"Right you are! Now go to your room! And I'd better not find you near Regulus today-"

I hurried up to my room and once I had reached it, slammed the door shut behind me and leant against it, breathing deeply. How could I ever live with that as my family?

* * *

**Review, pretty please.**


	21. September 1, 1977

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, they were greatly appreciated :) **

* * *

"I'll go first," Evan said, just shortly waiting for the affirmative nod of my father, before striding forward and pushing through the barrier.

"You next, girl. We're already late."

I nodded at once, moving forward, but never got far. Someone bumped into me, including their cart and it knocked me to the floor. As I looked up again, I saw that they boy had fallen as well – it was none other Peter Pettigrew, hurriedly scrambling to his feet again.

"S-Selene! S-so s-sorry – my dad's still p-parking the car..."

"Don't worry about it, Pete," I muttered, standing up again. "Could happen to anyone." Actually, I was pretty sure that things like that only happened to people like Peter.

I nodded at him again and then, squaring my shoulders, passed the barrier, closely followed by both my parents.

"What a horrible boy," my mother said, shaking her head. "He didn't even offer to help you up."

"He had a hard time getting up, himself," I muttered.

"Did he mention a car?" my father added. "A Muggle, then."

"He's not a Muggle, father."

He huffed in annoyance. "As good as."

I frowned at him. So they were now picking on half-bloods, too?

"Who are you talking about?"

Evan had appeared in front of us again; he had obviously already got rid of his trunk.

"What was his name, honey?"

"Peter Pettigrew."

"Horrible kid," Evan agreed at once. "Barely a wizard, too."

"See," my father said to me. "A Muggle."

* * *

Even the sight of the castle's familiar towers didn't soothe me this time. I wondered when they had gotten like this – this... racist... – or if they had in fact always been like this. And I simply hadn't realized it. Or hadn't minded it. Was it possible? That in all these years, I had been no better than them? And I wasn't better now. I was going to marry a Death Eater.

Said Death Eater had shortly stopped by at Callie's, Maia's and mine compartment to say hello, but had hurried off again to 'meet friends'. I knew this description by now. Evan had said exactly the same before. As I watched Reg take off, soon joining Avery and Snape, something snapped inside me. He was having secret meetings? Fine. I could do that at least as well.

For the second time that day, I collided with Peter; only this time, I did it entirely on purpose. He let out a shocked gasp and started to apologize, but I interrupted him at once.

"Quite all right, Peter." I quickly grabbed his hand, placing the parchment inside his palm. "I'll see you."

* * *

For three days, I spent an hour after curfew hiding in the secret passage down in the dungeons. On the first night, a Hufflepuff prefect found me on my way back, but seen as she was a fifth year, I managed to persuade her to not give me detention. In fact, she seemed thankful that I hadn't cursed her. Times like these, I absolutely loved being a Slytherin.

It was when I sat in the passage on the fourth day that I realized he wouldn't come. I had pushed Sirius and the others too far away – even when I changed my mind, they wouldn't want me to be their friend again. I had been too mean, too good in keeping my distance.

I scrambled to my feet, sighing. Fine, then. I moved towards the entrance to return to the common room, but as I had almost reached it, I bumped into something. I yelped, startled by the sudden barrier, as a voice exclaimed, "Ouch!" I took a step back, searching for the owner of that voice, when suddenly, the figure appeared out of thin air. James pulled of his cloak, one hand rubbing his shoulder.

"James!" I hissed. "You scared me-"

"Oh come on, I didn't force you to run into me-"

"I couldn't see you!"

"Your point?"

I opened my mouth to argue on, but decided to just drop it. "Why are_ you_ here?" I asked.

James sighed. "Sirius refused to come and get you."

"But-"

"We tried to convince him for the past three days. Today, I decided that he's a selfish dick and that I don't care what he thinks about this."

"So," I muttered, "He – he-"

"Oh, don't worry about him. He'll come around."

"He's mad at me."

"We're all mad at you."

I raised my eyebrows, waiting for further explanation.

"But we still miss you, so I came to get you. Come on."

"But Sirius-" I started again, only to get interrupted again.

"You come along now, or I'll stun you and drag you upstairs. Your choice."

* * *

Lily rushed towards me, hugging me. "I'm so glad..."

"It's all right – all right, Lily, let go of me..."

She finally stepped back, smiling broadly at me. "I knew you'd see sense."

"Well..."

Remus appeared next to her, grinning at me, too. "Good to see you."

"It's good to see you, too."

James returned from his dorm, were had put away the cloak, frowning slightly. "Where's Padfoot?"

"He grabbed the map and went outside. Couldn't stop him," Peter squeaked, earning a sigh from James.

"This is ridiculous."

"Nothing about me is ridiculous."

We all whirled around. Without us noticing, the portrait hole had opened and Sirius had stepped inside and now stood in the entrance to the common room, glaring at us.

"I told you not to bring her here."

"And I told you I would."

Sirius strode over to James. "Did you forget that her Death Eater friends nearly killed us the other day?"

"WHAT?" I exclaimed, looking frantically from one to the other. "What happened?"

"No," James answered. "I didn't forget. You know as well as I do that she's not a Death Eater."

"She's marrying one of them."

"Do you think I'm happy about it?"

Sirius gaze turned to me and I stepped in front of him.

"Do you think I want the rest of my life being friendly to people that I hate? Do you think I want to spend my life with your parents as my parents-in-law? Certainly not. But in contrast to you, I don't run away. I don't get to run away, because I need to save all of you. So quit complaining."

He eyed me uncertainly, eyes travelling from head to toe as he swallowed hard. "You hate my parents?"

I laughed bitterly. "Certainly. They're horrible."

And then, the hostility in his face vanished, as a grin spread on his face. "Good to have you back."

* * *

"So," I said as we had settled in front of the fireplace. "You mentioned nearly getting killed. What happened?"

"How was that exactly-"

"Started when we were bored in the holidays," James muttered.

"Yeah," Sirius said. "I own this motorcycle now-"

"Cool thing."

"Yes."

"So we decided to make a tour."

"Quick one."

"Just to test it-"

"And we kind of, sort of went a little too fast."

"Just a bit."

"Tiny bit," Sirius grinned. "So we got held up by these – how are they called?"

"Muggle version of Aurors," James offered.

"Police men," Peter said, smiling slightly.

"Right!" Sirius exclaimed. "So they stopped us."

"Wanted names-"

"So we gave them some-"

"And as we were just chatting nicely with them, these Death Eaters appeared-"

"On broomsticks, not very subtle-"

"Wait, wait," I said, "They just appeared there? What would they want with you?"

"Don't know either," James said. "But we threw the car of these ple-"

"Police men," Peter said.

"Right, of these guys at them."

"You threw a car at them?" I asked, horrified. "In public?"

"It was in self-defence!" Sirius said. "That makes it completely legal, right?"

"Right," James said. "So these Death Eater guys crashed into the car."

"Stupid of them."

"So we jumped onto the motorcycle again-"

"And took off. It flies really well," Sirius finished. "I'm rather proud of it."

I was silent for a while, trying to find the right words for this. "So you enchanted a motorcycle, got held up by Muggle Aurors, were attacked by Death Eaters, threw a car at them and took off on your flying motorcycle. In front of Muggles."

Sirius pretended to think about it for a while, before saying, "Yeah, that pretty much sums it up."

I shook my head, disbelieving. "Really, you two can't be left alone."


	22. September 23&24, 1977

**Thanks to everyone who read, fav'd, alerted and reviewed. xxSiriusxxforeverxx, who asked whether I had read the prequel - I did. Of course I did ;) I mean, it's canon, and I thought it'd fit, so there you go... **

* * *

Giggling, Sirius and I climbed through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room.

"That was so close," I said and he nodded, grinning.

"But only close."

I laughed, falling into the chair next to him. "You Gryffindors - you just have to prove you're the bravest kitten around..."

He grinned widely. "Better than being a snake."

"Hey!" I exclaimed. "What's wrong with being a snake?"

Sirius grinned even wider and started hissing... "I'm a ssssnake... oh, where did my arms go? Just kidding, I'm a ssssnake..."

I lightly slapped him on the chest. "Stop it, moron. That's not funny-"

"I'm a ssssnake... I'm huge - a huge ssssnake! I'm a ton bigger than you'd expect. You could make like a 1000 ssshoes out of me, or a million little purses! Or two really big boots or sssomething. Sssnake…"

I laughed uncontrollably as James and Remus sat down on the couch close to us.

"What happened?"

I signalled Sirius to tell the story, but he was equally unable to do it – gasping for breath, I tried to get my laughter under control. "It was just... just Avery hitting on that girl," I finally managed.

"And we... nearly bumped into them," Sirius added. "I got nearly hit on the head as she slapped him..."

"Would have served you right."

"But seen as her slap wasn't nearly as strong as he would have deserved-"

"Not Avery's opinion, I bet."

"I decided to help her a little and punched him in the face," Sirius finished as James started laughing himself.

"And then we ran," I added.

"That sounds amazing," James said. "I miss doing this kind of stuff..."

"Well," Remus said. "You are headboy now. However you managed to do that."

"If I knew," James answered, "You'd be the first to know."

"How is that, by the way," I asked. "You and Lily as headboy and girl..."

"It's...er ... it's good."

"Good? How good is good?"

"I'm working on it, okay?"

"You've been working on it for years, Prongs," Sirius reminded him.

"Yeah, but I was nowhere near success in the last years."

"But you are now?"

"Why don't you ask Lily instead?"

I shrugged slightly. "Maybe I will."

He froze. "What would you say?"

"Okay, no. I'm not going to set you two up. You need to do this by yourself." I smiled at him, stretching comfortably in my armchair. "It's more fun for us that way."

* * *

"Good morning," Reg said, kissing me on the cheek as he sat down next to me.

"It's too early to be a good morning," I muttered, reaching for the toast.

"You went to bed before me," Reg said, frowning at me. "How are you lacking sleep?"

"Couldn't fall asleep," I lied.

"Maybe you should ask Madam Pomfrey for a Sleeping Draught."

"It's not that bad," I said dismissively. "I'll manage."

"All right," he answered. "Sorry for my concern."

I groaned, running a hand through my hair. "I'm sorry. I just get cranky when tired."

"Good to know," he joked, "That I'll wake up to that forever."

"Don't be dramatic," I muttered, not bothering to remind him what I would wake up to. I sighed. I should really have slept longer, skipped breakfast maybe, then I wouldn't be thinking those things. I couldn't change it.

Maia joined us, shaking her head slightly. "Seriously, Callie and Basil freak me out. How can they be all over each other even before breakfast?"

I rolled my eyes. "No idea."

Reg reached for the bacon, snatching it from Maia's grasp. "So, what's your plan for the day?"

I frowned at him, shrugging. As usual, I'd use my Saturday for homework. "Slughorn wants this essay on Everlasting Elixirs... Why are you asking?"

"Just making Smalltalk."

"Oh. Okay. What about you, then?"

"Oh... er... Quidditch practice, I guess... yeah. First match against Gryffindor... Potter won't make it easy for us."

He took a bite from the bacon, then got up, wrapping the rest of his toast and bacon in a napkin. "See you tonight."

My eyebrows rose as he took off and my eyes met Maia's.

"But," she said. "Doesn't the Slytherin team train on Sunday?"

* * *

I only shot him a quick glance when Remus sat down on the table I occupied in the library. He didn't look too good, I decided. As if he was going to be ill.

A few minutes passed with me staring at my Potions book, waiting for him to say something, before finally he asked, "How are you?"

I looked up smiling slightly. "So you let the tension built for a while and then ask how I am? How absolutely anticlimactic."

Remus grinned, but insisted, "Still. Are you okay?"

"Sure, I'm... Just the usual wondering about Regulus."

"What's he done?"

I sighed, leaning back in my chair. "They're planning something. Something he doesn't want me to know. Could be the usual, 'how do we become Death Eaters', though."

Remus pulled a face. "So he's still up to that."

"He is. Got my brother as a shining example."

"So Evan got the mark?"

"He never told me," I admitted. "But I would expect he has. Sure seems smug in the past weeks."

He sighed, looking even more tired than before.

"Are you sure you are fine?" I asked.

"Of course. I just feel... a little out of sorts today."

* * *

"There you are!" I said as Sirius hastily entered the passage. "Where's the cloak?"

"James needed it," he said, out-of-breath. "He only left me the map. Took a little longer that way."

"What does James need the cloak for?"

A big smiled erupted on his face. "He's out with Lily."

"No."

"Yes."

"That's amazing! So he _was_ near success."

"Wouldn't believe it either if I hadn't seen them take off together."

Smiling, I shook my head at him. "You're a horrible friend."

"Oh, believe me, I know."

Sighing, I glided down the wall, sitting on the floor. "So, uh – what do you plan on doing, then? I'm not relying on the map to get back up."

"The map is perfect."

"Still we'd walk the castle without disguise. Not going to happen. My parents will throw a fit when I get detention because I'm sneaking around with you."

"Plus Reg would be pretty pissed." He sat down next to me.

"He would. He would be pissed about all of this. But I figure if he's keeping secrets, I can do that, too."

Sirius frowned at me. "Aren't you afraid?"

"Of what? He's not going to hurt me."

"You give him too much credit."

"No, dear, you don't give him enough credit."

He groaned slightly. "So, we're back at, 'your brothers, you should get along'?"

"You won't get along, Sirius. Not anymore. Not with your parents constantly reminding him that they hate you."

"Well, I did my very best to make them loathe me."

I scoffed. "Who blames you, they're horrible."

He chuckled. "Aren't they?"

"You're lucky to have left."

"Yes, yes I am," he said contently, throwing an arm around me to pull me closer.

I cleared my throat, to fill the uncomfortable silence. Uncomfortable for me, at least. "So... uh... is Remus all right? He seemed a bit off today..."

"No, no, he's fine," Sirius answered as his fingers started drawing small circles on my arm.

"Sure?" I asked, trying to ignore the way his fingers moved over my skin. "He looked as if he was getting ill."

"He's fine," Sirius insisted.

I swallowed hard. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy being close to him – quite the contrary, actually – but my mind involuntarily drifted to the Slytherins; Regulus, my fiancé, sleeping only one corridor from us...

"He's often ill," I muttered, trying desperately to find something to talk about.

"Will you stop talking about Remus already?" Sirius asked.

I looked away, sighing, but all too soon, his fingers cupped by chin, and he carefully turned my head back around.

"Is that just me?"

"No, of course not, it's just..."

He leant forward, his lips hovering over mine. "Just what?"

"Sirius, please," I whispered. "We can't-"

"Of course we can." With that, he closed the remaining gap between us and his lips met mine.

* * *

**Review please. It would make me really happy :D**


	23. October 26, 1977

**It's a good thing I had that 7-hour-traind ride today, so I could write this down and type it up for you guys :) Thanks to annaisadinasour and xxSiriusxxforeverxx, who reviewed the last chapter.**

* * *

Was I happy or desperate? I didn't really know. It seemed as if I was leading two different lives. Sometimes, I even felt like I was two different persons.

Reg was still trying to keep his secret meetings just that – secret. He didn't really do a good job with it. I never said anything, though, hoping that he never figured out that I was keeping my own secrets. A part of me felt really bad about it. I liked Reg well enough not to want to hurt him.

Then again, being with Sirius was my happy place – there were no secrets being kept between us. With Sirius, life was light as a feather.

For about a month, I thought I could just keep it that way. Happy and anything but troublesome.

* * *

"Hey, you."

I jumped as Sirius whispered in my ear. He chuckled at my flinching and let the cloak drop.

"Always so jumpy, sweetheart."

"I just didn't expect you yet."

He chuckled again and leant forward to kiss the corner of my mouth. "So, you wait around here, early, just for the hell of it?" he teased.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Shut up already."

"Your wish, my command, love," he answered before swiftly pressing his lips to mine.

"Selene?"

We broke apart and I whirled around. Greasy black hair surrounding a pale face – Severus was staring at us. His eyes moved from me to Sirius and he sneered.

"Black."

"Snivellus."

"He's going to kill you," Severus said, his glee evident. "Your brother is going to throw a fit when he finds out you touched _her_."

I took a step towards him. "Please, Severus – don't tell him. Reg doesn't need to know-"

"I think he does," Severus said pleasantly. Obviously, he loved the way things played out. "You're cheating on him, after all."

"Look, Snivellus-"

"Not helping," I snapped at Sirius, causing Severus' grin to widen even more.

"Oh, trouble in paradise already?"

"Severus, please, don't tell him."

"I will tell him. If I'm lucky, he's going to get rid off your lover here for good. Pity about you, though. He's going to be pretty angry at you..."

"Don't you dare threaten Selene!" Sirius exploded, hands already reaching for his wand.

"Why, you can gather your friends and form a protection party. That's if Pettigrew is man enough and Lupin's up for it in his condition... He's going to sneak out again tonight, right? Ill, they say..."

"Listen here," Sirius began angrily, but interrupted himself. "Right. You're right."

"What?" I said, along with Severus, whose sneer had been replaced with a mask of utter confusion.

"You're right," Sirius repeated. "He's going to sneak out, take a stick and press the knot so he can enter the tunnel underneath the Whomping Willow. He's not going to be up for a protection party..."

Severus eyes were wide as he considered Sirius. "You're not serious."

"Please, I'm always Sirius."

Severus turned on the heel and headed off in a hurry, his robes fluttering around him.

I turned to Sirius. "What have you told him?"

"The truth," he said darkly.

"Why – what – what is Remus doing under the Whomping Willow?"

"Little welcoming feast for Snivellus, I expect."

"Sirius! I want the truth! What's going on?"

"Doesn't concern you," Sirius said. He attempted to push past me, but I grabbed his arm.

"Tell me! Why would you send Snape there? What's wrong with Remus?"

"Nothing's _wrong_ with him!"

"Tell me!"

"He's a werewolf, all right?"

* * *

I blinked at him. "I don't think I heard you right."

He laughed bitterly. "You heard me right."

"But – but, no. He couldn't be – you're kidding!"

"I'm not," he said. "Think about it, Selene. Just think. It all fits. That's why he looks ill. That's why he sneaks out once a month. We call him Moony-"

"Oh, Merlin," I whispered. He was right. It all fit. I was overcome by a sudden rush of pity for Remus. Ever kind, ever friendly Remus, always ready to help... forced to transform into a monster. I shuddered. And a horrible monster at that. A dangerous one-

I froze. "So it's a full moon tonight."

"Yeah."

"But, Sirius – if Snape follows him – and Remus is a wolf – he's going to tear him apart."

"I sure hope so."

"No!" I exclaimed. "We have to stop him!"

"He didn't care if you were harmed, either," Sirius answered.

"So? We're better than that."

Sirius shrugged. "I'm a Black. We do horrible things."

He passed me, moving towards the stairs.

"Remus will never forgive himself if he hurts someone," I said urgently. "He won't forgive you, either."

"I can live with that if I'm getting rid of Snivellus."

* * *

I skittered to a halt in the library, where Lily's red head was bent over her books. "Lily!"

"Selene?"

"Where's James?"

"You're too loud," she whispered. "Anyone could hear you-"

"I don't care – where is he?"

"Really, Selene-"

"It's live or death, okay?" I said. "I need to find James."

"Well, he said he'd meet me meet here. What-"

"And I am." James appeared, running a hand through his hair. "What's going on?"

"James," I said. "Thank Merlin. It's Sirius. He told Snape how to follow Remus tonight."

* * *

"How could he be this stupid?" James yelled as we hurried through the corridors. "Now I have to go and save Snivellus! Of all people!"

He broke into a run and I jogged after him. "He was angry," I tried, but I knew fully well that it was no excuse.

James almost growled as we left the castle through the gates and headed towards the Whomping Willow. As a matter of fact, Severus was already there.

"Don't!" I yelled, but Snape either didn't hear or didn't care. As we ran, the usually vicious branches of the Whomping Willow froze and Snape hurried through a gap between the roots.

James gave a frustrated scream and sped up even more; Quidditch training obviously paying off. He got almost hit by a rogue branch as the Willow awoke again. He jumped to the side just in time.

As I reached him, the Willow froze again as he, too, had touched the knot.

"Stay here!" he commanded and dived down into the passage beneath the tree. I heard him calling for Snape, I heard screaming – and an inhuman growl that made me stumble back in fright.

Seconds after, James emerged again, pulling a terrified Severus after him.

"Come on!" James yelled and they fully climbed out, followed by another, louder growl.

"Run!" James yelled and I spun at once, running off again. The boys passed me soon. Adding to the growling was now the sound of heavy paws rushing after us.

I let out a terrified scream as I tripped and fell, landing flat on the ground. James whirled around while Snape took off, escaping towards the castle.

"Don't move," James said, but I didn't think that I even could have. The drumming of the paws had passed, but the growl was louder than ever, right above me.

"Moony," James said cautiously, stepping towards me and the wolf. "C'mon... it's me, it's Prongs. You don't want to hurt Selene-"

He was interrupted by another set of paws. I moved my head slightly to see - a huge black dog was running towards us. A – a Grimm...

It jumped over me and with a very nasty snarl, pushed the wolf away from me. James was by me side with seconds, pulling me up. "C'mon-"

I turned to see the dog and the werewolf – fighting, biting each other. The wolf snarled, but was thrown to the ground-"

"Come on," James urged. "Padfoot will kill me if I don't keep you safe!"

Finally, I allowed James to pull me away, back to the safety of the castle's walls."

* * *

"Unfortunately," Professor Dumbledore said, sitting down behind his desk. "Mr Lupin doesn't feel good enough to join us. He suffers greatly from the knowledge that he almost hurt fellow students. He asked me to expel him."

"Please, Professor," I begged at once. "Don't. It's already not Remus' fault..."

"I know, Miss Rosier, and I'm not going to expel him."

I sighed in relief, as did Sirius and James who sat on either side of me.

"Still, you have to understand that there must be consequences. Mr Black, you acted with extreme irresponsibility-"

"But Snivellus-"

"Mr Black."

"But Snape threatened her! I mean – I was just... angry..."

Dumbledore's piercing blue eyes now fixed on me. "Is that true, Miss Rosier?"

"Well, yes... I guess. He threatened to tell Reg – Regulus, I mean... he threatened to tell him... something," I finished lamely.

"I see. Though your anger is understandable, your actions are not justified. I'm afraid, I'll have to take fifty points from Gryffindor."

"F-fity?" Sirius choked out.

"Yes. And you'll serve detention, of course."

Sirius looked crestfallen as he muttered, "Of course, Sir."

"Good. For the heroic rescue, though, I'll give twenty points to Mr Potter."

James' face lit up. "Thank you, Sir."

Again, Dumbledore's gaze landed on me. "Now, I already talked to Mr Snape, who swore to never tell Mr Lupin's secret to other students. I expect you to-"

"I'd never tell," I said quickly. "Remus is a friend!"

"Good," Dumbledore said again. "Then, twenty points to Slytherin, too, I think. After all, this rescue mission seems to have been a team effort."

* * *

**Review, pretty please.**


	24. October 27, 1977

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! **

* * *

"So, Dumbledore wanted to see you."

"Yeah."

"After you accompanied Potter to save Severus from the Whomping Willow."

"Yeah."

"And you got 20 points, but are not allowed to tell what for."

"Yeah," I muttered, staring at my plate as to not meet Reg's eyes.

"This doesn't make any sense. At all. Tell me the truth," he demanded.

"I told you," I said. "I swore not to tell."

"Look," he said, leaning forward. "I'm your fiancé. I'm sure you can make an exception."

"No," I said firmly. "There are no exceptions."

"You don't trust me," he accused.

"I don't trust you with that, you're right. I wouldn't trust anyone with that."

He glared at me, but I didn't back down. His gaze wandered from me to something behind me, turning into an expression that made me wonder if the person he looked at would drop that right where they were.

"What do you want?" Reg spat and I turned slightly to find Sirius standing next to me.

"You're needed in the Hospital Wing."

"What?"

"It's Remus."

"What are you talking about, Sirius?" Reg growled.

"Well, brother, none of your business."

"Well, _brother,_" Reg bit back. "I certainly won't let my fiancée go along with you. I know you after all."

"You know what," I said, "Your fiancée can make her own decisions. Let's go, Sirius."

I got up, ignoring a speechless Regulus and followed Sirius outside. As we reached the Great Staircase, Sirius started to say something, but I interrupted him at once.

"You don't get to talk to me yet. You lied to me, Sirius, all the time. You risked the death of another person-"

"It was only Snivellus-"

"Do you even listen to yourself? You sound like a Death Eater. You sound like your brother."

Sirius paled instantly. "No – no, I don't..."

"Yes, yes, you do. Where's the difference in saying, _it was only Snivellus I tried to kill_ and _it was only a Mudblood that I tried to kill_? Tell you what, Sirius. There's no difference. I'm really mad at you."

He swallowed hard, running a hand through his hair. "I tried to make it better again."

"When? 'Cause I didn't see you around when _James_ saved Snape..."

"I saved you, though," he said at once.

I raised my eyebrows. "Didn't see you there, either."

He sighed heavily. "Okay... okay... there's one more thing. One. It's the last secret, I swear."

I huffed in annoyance. "Honestly, Sirius-"

"That black dog..."

"The Grimm?" I asked and his eyes widened before he suddenly started laughing.

"You think it was a Grimm?"

"Well," I said defensively. "It was a huge black dog-"

"It was me," he said, still chuckling.

"It- what?"

"It was me, the dog."

"You're... you're... you're a dog."

"Yeah," he answered. "It sounds a lot worse than it is if you say it like that."

I looked around to make sure no one was around to hear us; but the students all seemed to be occupied with their meal. "How are you a dog?"

"I'm an Animagus, love-"

"Stop saying that," I snapped. "And that's rubbish – how could you be an Animagus? That's incredibly advanced Transfiguration..."

"I know," he said with a clear hint of pride, "We still did it."

"_We_?" I repeated. "Do you mean to tell me-"

"I mean to tell you that James, Pete and I worked for years to become Animagi – and we did it. You always wondered about the nicknames-"

"Padfoot," I muttered. "Of course..."

"Wormtail," he offered. "Pete's turning into a rat."

"And Prongs," I added. "A-"

"A stag."

I shook my head slowly. "I don't believe this."

"You saw me, though. Thought I was a Grimm." He laughed again. "That's awesome. I'll have to tell Prongs... a Grimm."

"I think I need to sit down," I told him, sinking down on the staircase. "Just let me guess. You sneak out with him, turn and keep him company on full moons."

"Keep him company, explore the grounds..."

"_What_?" I yelled before flinching slightly at the thought that someone might overhear our conversation. Quieter, I asked, "You stroll around the grounds with a _werewolf_? He's dangerous-"

"He's not dangerous," Sirius said, "At least not with us. James and I have him under control."

"Oh Merlin," I whispered. "You guys are out of your mind."

* * *

After recovering from the initial shock, I managed to ask Sirius what he originally came to get me for. Eyes widening, he told me that Remus just wouldn't leave the Hospital Wing – or his bed, for that matter – and refused to talk to anyone.

"He feels guilty," Sirius explained, "For almost biting you. You need to talk to him."

So the two of us set off for the Hospital Wing.

"Don't think that everything is all right, now, though," I warned Sirius as we hurried through the corridors. "I'm still mad."

"We'll see about that once we dealt with Moony."

We reached the Hospital Wing and Sirius stopped abruptly. "Madam Pomfrey is not going to let me inside."

"Why?"

"She thinks I upset him..."

"Well," I scoffed. "I can imagine that."

I opened the door and slipped inside. I had hoped to go unnoticed but I had no such luck. Madam Pomfrey, who was never more alert than when someone tried to visit one of the students in her care, bustled over towards me.

"What do you want? You don't seem ill."

"No, Ma'am," I said at once. "I'd like to visit Remus."

"Mr Lupin is very upset. He's best left alone..."

"Please, Madam Pomfrey. I'm the one he... he tried to..."

"Oh, that's you?" she said, suddenly changing her mood. "About time you show up, then. It's not his fault, you know-"

"I know," I assured her. "I just had no idea how upset he really was."

"Then hurry," she said, ushering me along towards the beds. "Mr Lupin, you have a visitor."

We reached him to see that he had turned his back on us. He mumbled something that I didn't quite understand into his pillow.

"Nonsense," Madam Pomfrey said resolutely. "You can't hide your whole life, dear." She turned to me, forcing a smile. "I'll leave you to it."

I sighed, watching as she walked off and then sat down on a chair next to Remus' bed.

"Won't you turn around and look at me?"

"Go away," he said.

"No, I won't. Honestly, Remus, turn around..."

"Why are you here?" he muttered. "Why come to visit the monster..."

"You're not a monster."

He turned around abruptly. He looked as if he hadn't eaten for a while – he was incredibly pale and his cheeks looked sunken. "Yes, I am. I almost bit you. Can you even imagine-"

"But you didn't," I answered calmly. "And even if you had, it wouldn't be your fault. You're not in control, how could I ever blame you?"

"You could, I'm repulsive..."

"You're not," I protested. "You're smart, you're kind, and you're good. You're my friend, Remus. If I am angry about anything than it is that you didn't tell me before. Now get out of this bed and eat something. N.E.W.T.s, remember? You won't pass them by sulking."

His eyes widened. "You're serious," he whispered, almost as if he didn't believe it.

"'Course I am. Now get up. Madam Pomfrey can't wait to get rid of you."

* * *

I reached the Slytherin common room and found Regulus sitting motionlessly in front of the fireplace. He barely looked up, cradling something in his hands which looked like a rather demolished piece of paper.

"Where were you?" he asked, his voice far too quiet.

"Visiting Lupin in the Hospital Wing. He's better now."

He nodded slowly, not answering me.

"Reg, what's wrong?"

His eyes dropped to what he held in his hands again, carefully unfolding it again. I froze as I realized that it wasn't a piece of paper at all – it was the photograph he had given me for my birthday.  
He handed it over to me and I stared at it in horror. Young Regulus was gone from the picture – no trace of him to be found. Instead, his brother now played with the child I had once been. And both of them looked incredibly happy.

* * *

**Review pretty please, and tell me what you expect to happen. I'd like to know :)**


	25. November 1, 1977

**Thanks to kittyhawk09 for reviewing the last chapter and also for the very interesting discussion we had afterwards :) Everyone else - where were you? ;) No, seriously, I'd like a few more reviews... consider this me asking very nicely. **

**Anyway, on to the chapter.**

* * *

"How did you get this?" I asked, staring at the two children.

"Callie was so friendly to get it for me. She couldn't believe it, either..."

"Believe what?" I snapped. How dare she search my things? How dare _he_ make her search my things?

"See, Severus told us an interesting little story-"

"That's it," I growled. "I'm going to kill him."

"You see," Reg continued calmly. "It appears that he found you and my brother in a deserted corridor. Apparently, you were all over each other."

I groaned and buried my head in my hands.

"You promised," Reg said and only now he did sound really hurt. "You promised to keep away from him."

I looked up. "Reg, listen-"

"I know you don't love me!" he interrupted me. "I know, all right? But my brother? I don't know why you had to stoop so low."

"Reg, please, I-"

"I don't want to hear it," he said, getting up. "We're over. Good for you, I guess. You can go shag my brother without the secrecy."

I got up as well, reaching for him. "Don't, Reg, I'm really-"

"Don't say you're sorry when you're not. You love him, I get it. I just wish you didn't."

"Are you completely out of your mind?" Evan yelled.

* * *

He had found me in the library and had managed to pull me into a rather disserted corner.

"No, I'm not," I answered. "Quite the contrary. I've finally come to my senses."

"You were to marry him! And what do you do? Go and sleep with his brother, the Gryffindor blood-traitor."

"I haven't slept with him!" I exclaimed, "Why do people keep saying that?"

Evan growled. "You go back and apologize to Regulus. Beg on your knees, if you must, but make sure he marries you."

"I don't want to marry Reg," I said calmly. "I'm sorry for his pain, but I'm glad that I don't have to marry him."

"Mum and Dad know," Evan threatened, "They'll disown you."

"Let them," I bit back. "I'm better off without you lot, anyways."

Before I could even blink, he had wiped out his wand. "You'll do as you're told," he growled, pushing the wand into my chest.

"Or what? What are you going to do to your own sister?"

"You can't even imagine, you little-"

"_Impedimenta_!"

Evan was yanked away; he crashed against the nearest bookshelf and sank on the floor with a yelp. I turned my head to see James, a satisfied smirk on his face as he regarded my brother.

"Wanker," he said before turning to me. "Are you all right?"

"Sure," I said. "Thank you."

James merely shrugged. "I keep saving you from him. It's sort of my thing."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Come on, let's get out of here." I grabbed my books and set off through the library, James on my heel.

"What were you arguing about?"

"He wants me to ask Reg to make back. Which I won't. He says my parents will disown me. He's probably right."

I had played calm with my brother, but in truth, I was freaked out. What was I supposed to do if they disowned me? I had no money of my own – I would end up on the street. At least, I still had a year of Hogwarts; a place to come back to. But after that?

"Good," James said. "No offense, but it's better to not associate with these people."

"Only without these people, I have no place to go," I said.

"What are you talking about?" James said. "You're staying at my place. The manor is big enough. My mum will love to have a girl in the house."

I stopped dead in my tracks. "You want me to move in?"

"Well – yeah. Sirius did, too."

"Sirius is your best friend."

"You're a friend, too," James insisted. "Of course I'll help out."

I felt my eyes watering. "Thank you," I managed to say. "James that's... awfully nice."

"Oh, no," he said uncomfortably. "Don't cry."

"Sorry," I sobbed. "It's just too much."

"There, there," he said, awkwardly patting my shoulder.

"Sorry," I said again, wiping my tears away.

"But don't expect me to hug you," he warned. "I don't do that."

Somehow, I laughed through my tears. "Didn't expect you to."

* * *

I reached Charms class and fell into my seat next to Callie, not once looking at her. At first, I had been quite angry at Reg for making her search my things; then, I figured that I would probably have done the same thing in his position. My anger at Reg had faded very quickly. What stayed was pity for him, but also relief. My anger at Callie lasted though – supposedly such a good friend, she had searched through my things because of the mere testimony of someone as unreliable as Severus Snape. Since when, exactly, did she trust Snape more than me? And in what universe was it okay to just look through your best friend's things?

"I'm tired of you judging me!"

I turned my head to look at her with raised eyebrows. "Tired or not, I am judging you."

"Well, I am judging you, too! Cheating on Reg, what were you thinking?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but found that I didn't have an adequate response. What had I been I thinking? I had cared very little about the possible consequences.

"Still doesn't give you the right-"

"I couldn't believe it, okay? Reg said he needed prove. He told me about the picture. He said it would prove that Severus was lying..."

I swallowed hard, the pity for Reg crashing over me like a wave. He had once been one of my best friends. How could I have done this to him?

"And you couldn't wait and ask me to show you the picture?"

"You wouldn't have."

"Of course I would have! I haven't looked at it for ages, I didn't even know Reg had disappeared from it."

Indeed, the change in the photograph had taken me completely off guard.

Callie huffed in annoyance. "I really can't believe that you blame me, now."

"Deal with it."

She frowned at me and then a triumphant smirk spread on her face. "You're getting disowned. Evan told me."

"Glad you're up-to-date."

"Was it worth it?" she inquired. "Losing your fiancé, your family, your friends?"

"Listen up," I said, patience running low. "I don't really think we were friends anymore. We were once, but you left me the second I turned to Sirius. I came back and you took me in again – and now, you turn your back on me once more. That's not friendship, Callie."

She glared at me, and then gathered her books, quill and papers and moved away, joining Maia at a table two rows away from mine.

* * *

"So," Sirius said as I sat down next to him in the Great Hall. "Quidditch match on Saturday. Are you cheering for Slytherin, or for us?"

"I thought I might just not go," I answered.

"You're going to miss the Quidditch match?" James stared at me, horrified. "Are you nuts?"

Lily sighed heavily. "Personally, I think Selene's right. A Gryffindor-Slytherin match is not a good place for her to be right now. Quidditch is not that important, anyway."

"Not that important?" James repeated. "How is this my girlfriend?"

"Well, I promised to skip to studying to watch you, didn't I?"

"Well, yeah..."

"And don't you forget it," she said, leaning over to swiftly press her lips to his. "Now I have to go, get the studying done that I won't do on Saturday."

James groaned and rolled his eyes, but Lily merely laughed at him and skipped out of the Hall.

"You're cute together," I complimented.

"Too cute," Peter said, grumpily stirring his soup. "I get seriously sick in the stomach watching these two..."

"All over each other," Sirius added, "All the time."

"Oi," James exclaimed, "We're not that bad."

"Actually," Remus said, smiling slightly at his friend. "You are."

I giggled as James turned red.

"We're not all over each other," he protested. "Not all the time, at least."

* * *

**Tell me what you think, pretty please :)**


	26. December 23, 1977

**Thank you for the amazing response to the last chapter. 7 reviews - that's the most I got for this story, so thanks. Please, keep that up :D**

* * *

"Oh, seriously? Can you two just give it a break?"

I sighed, pulling back from Sirius, whose lips now found my neck instead. Mockingly, I raised my eyebrows at Lily. "Talking about the pot and the kettle..."

She huffed, irritated. "James and I are _not_ that bad."

"Not right now, you mean?"

She rolled her eyes at me and reached for her glass.

I shrugged slightly. "Not even allowed to celebrate," I muttered.

Sirius grinned at me broadly. "I knew you'd be on our side."

Gryffindor had won the Quidditch match - it had been close, but in the end, I supposed, they had deserved to win. Gryffindor always had been the better team.

"Never denied it, did I?"

"You should've seen it. We crushed them."

"Not exactly," Lily said coldly. "It was quite a close catch."

Sirius huffed. "Spoil sport."

"Hey!"

"Guys," Remus said. "Can we please just be happy and stop the arguing?"

"Sure," I answered. "Let's just be happy."

* * *

I let the trunk fall to the floor with a sigh of relief. When exactly did this thing get so heavy? And where was your supposedly strong boyfriend when you needed him? I straightened up and looked around. Most students went home for Christmas as usual and James had insisted that I should come with him and Sirius. I had received a very short letter by my father, who had written to me simply to say that he never wanted to see me ever again. Even though it had been expected, those few cold words had stung; they still did.

"Hey."

I turned to see Maia standing in front of me, nervously glancing around. "Hey," I repeated.

"Are you... are you okay?"

I frowned at her. Where was that coming from? She - as most Slytherins - had taken to ignore me over the past two month. And now, here she stood, visibly uncomfortable.

"Why are you asking?"

"Look, Selene, I am... I am sorry... It's just... Callie said not to talk to you. That you were a traitor. I had no other choice-"

"Why are you talking to me, then?" I asked, confused.

"It's not right, okay!" she said loudly. Flinching at the sound, she looked around. "They'll get angry at me when they find out that I talk to you, but... but, see, I think you're doing the right thing. I wish I could be that brave."

"I wasn't brave," I said. "I was a coward. Had I been brave, I would have never kept all this a secret for so long."

She shrugged. "But you're leaving this all behind. Won't become a Death Eater's wife. You freed yourself. I admire you. But me... I'm not like that. My sense of self-preservation is getting in the way." She smiled weakly. "But I wanted you to know that I'm still your friend. If you want me to be, that is."

I smiled at her and quickly hugged her before she stepped back, afraid that anyone would see her. "Thank you, Maia. Thank you so much."

She nodded and then turned on her heel, walking away from me.

"What was that?" Sirius appeared next to me, frowning at Maia's disappearing form. "She didn't bother you, did she?"

"No," I said, smiling at him. "Quite the contrary."

* * *

"Could you stop twitching? It's annoying," Sirius said, moving in his seat.

"Sorry," I muttered, staring past him onto the passing landscape.

"You've got no reason to be nervous," Lily assured me. "You're a nice enough girl..."

"No reason to be nervous? When will _you_ come to visit?"

"Well..."

James frowned at me. "She's right, though, it'll be no problem."

"I want them to like me," I said. "Now that they're so nice to take me in..."

"They even took Padfoot in," James reminded me. "And he's obnoxious."

"Hey!" Sirius protested, but I just giggled.

"Fair point," I admitted. I sighed, leaning back in my seat. "I'm still nervous."

"You'll love them," Sirius assured me. "And they'll love you. I can tell you, it's awfully nice to meet real parents for a change."

I frowned, the sting quite harsh at the mention of my family. Family. I scoffed inwardly. They didn't deserve to be called that. What kind of family forced her daughter to marry someone she didn't love and abandoned her when she refused?

"Don't brood," Sirius said, nudging me lightly. "You'll see," he added, pulling me closer to him. "Everything's going to be all right."

* * *

"Hurry up, Selene!" I heard James yell over the crowd and I huffed, annoyed. Hurry up? I was trying to get that damned trunk out of the train! None of them seemed to think it necessary to help me. I groaned and heaved the trunk out of train. It practically fell outside, pulling me with it and I gave a startled yelp as I felt myself falling.

I had the good fortune to be caught. I took a deep breath of relief as my rescuer practically sat me on my feet again. I straightened up and turned to look.

I froze, my eyes widening. "Reg," I whispered.

He swallowed hard, then nodded at me curtly and turned away, pushing through the crowd.

"Thank you," I muttered, frowning as he disappeared.

"Selene?" Sirius appeared in front of me. "Why did you stay here?"

"Oh, sorry, didn't know it was my fault that I get abandoned with my too-heavy trunk."

He sighed and rolled his eyes at me. "Okay – let me take it."

"Good you thought of it yourself," I said sarcastically as he hoisted the trunk up and strode forward.

He ignored my comment and instead informed me, "Charlus and Dorea are already waiting. Can't wait to get to know you, that's what they said."

With that, my almost forgotten nervousness was back with full strength.

"There they are!" James rushed towards us, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards his parents.

Mr Potter looked just like him – except for the glasses. Black messy hair made it obvious that both of them couldn't do anything to tame their hair. Mrs Potter possessed a kind of beauty that suggested she was related to the Blacks. Her smile, though, wasn't the one the Black women usually showed – it was warm, affectionate and was mirrored in her eyes.

"Mum, Dad, this is Selene."

"Hello," I said. "Thank you for having me."

"Oh, no, dear," Mrs Potter said. "That's a matter of course. You're a friend of our boys', so it's only natural to help."

I smiled. "Still, I'm very grateful."

"So, come on," Mr Potter said. "Let's get going." He turned the cart and strode towards the portal. We passed the barrier and walked through the grand station. Far in front of us, I thought I spotted Evan and my parents – but it was only for a short second and as I tried to have a closer look, the figures had already disappeared.

"Sirius," I heard Mr Potter say and Sirius sped up to join him. "I had a few ideas about that motorcycle of yours. I thought, maybe we could add..."

"I set up a room for you," Mrs Potter informed me just then. "It has a really beautiful fire place to it..."

"Please don't go out of your way for me," I said. "Anything's fine with me."

"Oh, don't worry yourself, dear, it's really no big. I mean, we are really happy that our Sirius has found himself a girl. He was in a pretty foul mood last summer. It's good to see him happy."

* * *

I sat down on the bed in the room Mrs Potter had chosen for me. It really was beautiful. It was too much. I couldn't quite believe that someone could be so generous. My hand traced over the quilt that covered the bed. It was blatantly obvious how much the Potters loved their son. And it seemed that they loved Sirius almost as much. _'Our boys_', Mrs Potter had said. As if he, too, was their son.

There was a knock on the door and I jolted to my feet. "Yes?"

Sirius lazily strolled into the room and looked around. "Nice. Awfully... girly."

"Oh, you just have to complain, don't you?" I teased and he shrugged.

"Do you like it?"

"Are you joking? I love it... this is just..."

"I know," he said. "I felt the same way. They seem to go out of their way, but I think they're just happy that they can help. They're maybe the best people I have ever met."

I nodded silently. It was fairly possible that he was right. He stepped towards me, his hands almost automatically falling to my waist.

"Don't look so sad," he urged. "We'll have one hell of a vacation."

I had to chuckle at that. "I'm sure we will."

He leaned forward, pressing his lips to mine. I melted into him, wrapping my arms around his neck. I gave a soft moan as his tongue gently traced my lower lip and he used that to slip it into my mouth.

Someone cleared their throat loudly and we jumped apart. James was standing in the door way, clearly trying not to look at us.

"Mum said dinner's ready," he mumbled, then turned and left.

I giggled. "Well, then, let's get to dinner."

"Or," Sirius said, pulling me back and meeting my lips again.


	27. December 31, 1977

**Thanks to everyone who read, fav'd, followed and a special thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter. It's greatly appreciated.**

* * *

Christmas had been nice. Not more and not less. I could tell the Potters made a huge effort – for James, of course, but also for Sirius and me, the guests they had so graciously taken in.

But Christmas was a time for family, and it only made painfully obvious that I had no such thing anymore. My family had abandoned me and didn't care where I was or what I did.

Sirius had been sweet and James enthusiastic, but in the end, no one could shake me out of my melancholy.

* * *

"Good morning!"

I shot up in my bed, looking around frantically. James, standing at the foot of my bed, grinned at me broadly.

"What are you doing in here?" I said, sinking back onto the pillow.

"Waking you. Last day of the year, can't exactly waste it, can we?"

"What do you want, James?" I growled, not at all amused. I needed my sleep.

"We've got Moony and Wormtail over tonight. Need to prepare."

I groaned. "Can't we prepare in a few hours?"

"No. Get up."

I sighed heavily and sat up again. "Fine. I'm getting up. Get out of here."

"What-"

"Get out. I don't wear nearly enough for you to see me."

"Oh, I-"

"James," I repeated warningly.

He nodded, spun on his heels and left. I sighed in relief and let myself drop on my back again.

* * *

We were standing in front of the fireplace while Mrs Potter rummaged through her purse, checking if she had packed everything.

"I trust you, James," she reminded her son. "No funny business."

"Nothing of the like, Mum, I promise."

She looked up, meeting his eyes critically. "I sure hope so."

"Oh, relax, Dorea," Mr Potter said merrily. "What is the worst that can happen?"

"I don't even want to imagine that," Mrs Potter retorted, but smiled brightly at us. "Have fun tonight."

"Come on," Mr Potter said. "We are already late."

30 seconds late, both of James' parents had disappeared in a green rush of Floo powder and James turned to us, grinning widely. "So, Prongs. Let's get that butterbeer out of the hut."

"Right," I said. "I'll be in the kitchen. I promised something to eat..."

Sirius kissed me on the cheek as he passed me. "You're the best, love."

"Don't you forget it," I called after him as the two boys disappeared outside.

* * *

The boys laughed loudly at me re-acting Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy.

"Lucius, _darling_, please cut your hair, it's getting everywhere – No, Narcissa, every respectable wizard has great hair! – But, _darling_, I never said you shouldn't have any hair – Get away from my hair, woman!"

"Always knew that jock pays too much attention to his hair," Sirius commented.

"I will never know how Cissa takes it," I answered, freezing. The nickname had naturally slipped from my tongue and I saw James frowning at me.

"Right," Sirius said, squaring his shoulders slightly. "Just good Bella didn't marry him. She'd have murdered him within the first week."

I nodded and reached for my glass to take a large sip.

"How are you doing, anyway?" Remus said suddenly and I looked up at him.

"What do you mean?"

"With your family and everything. Did they really break off any contact?"

I sighed. "That's what disinheriting means for them. They don't have a daughter anymore. But that's fine. I don't want them as my parents anyway."

"You did betray them," Peter mumbled.

"WHAT?" Sirius bellowed. "She didn't betray anyone!"

"Technically," I said. "I did cheat on Reg."

"Ugh," Sirius said.

"Anyway," I said, turning to Remus again. "I'm fine. I just wish I had all my stuff. But I never got the chance to collect those, seen as they didn't want me home."

"What have you still got there?" James asked, straightening up suddenly.

"Clothes, books, records, all sorts of personal things..."

"Well," he said slowly. "Are they home tonight?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "I guess not. They usually don't celebrate at home."

"Well, then," James said, grinning suddenly. "Let's get your stuff."

* * *

We stood in front of the huge gate shutting off the mansion. "They're really not home," I said, looking through the bars. "The lights are all out."

"Good," Remus said. "Then let's get that over with."

"Won't be so easy," Sirius answered. "The gates are probably protected."

"Pretty sure. And their protection spells are nasty. Someone would have to get inside, and lift them from there," I said.

"B-but," Peter stammered. "How are we supposed to go inside?"

"Are you kidding me?" Sirius asked roughly. "Are you Animagus or not? You turn and you get inside, Wormtail."

"B-b-but," he whispered again, but James and Remus nodded encouragingly.

"You're the man for the job, Pete," James said. "Get your arse in there."

Peter didn't look happy about this at all; in fact, he started shivering. Still, he did as he had been told. With wide eyes, I watched as he shrank, his face and then his body changing until all that was left was a small rat that hesitantly headed for the gate.

He slipped through the bars and inside. The rat hurried a few feet farther into the place until it was impossible to see him.

"A-and now?" Peter's weak voice called as he stepped into the light again. "What do I do?"

"Finite Incantatem?" Remus asked me. "Will that work?"

I shrugged. "I guess."

"Well, then," Sirius said. "Do it, Wormtail."

I watched as Peter pulled out his wand, wide eyes wandering over the gate. "And if – if it doesn't work?" he asked.

"Then we'll think of something else," I answered. "Try."

Peter raised his wand and muttered, "_Finite Incantatem!_"

The gate glowed for a moment until it fell back into its original state. "I think it worked," I said, reaching out a hand to push open the gate. Sirius caught my hand before I reached the metal, though.

"What are you doing?"

"You said it's nasty. Let me."

I rolled my eyes at him as James and Remus sniggered.

Sirius reached out and pushed open the gate. I held my breath for a second, but nothing happened. It had worked.

"Great," James said. "Let's get in there and get it over with."

We stepped inside and crept up the lawn, careful not to make any noise. I was almost positive that the manor was empty – but there was no need to take risks.

It was weird to be in the manor again, to be _home_ again. I turned to the boys and saw Remus and Peter regarding everything with open mouths. Of course, I thought, they weren't used to the pureblood display of splendour.

"All right," I said. "Some of you should stay here, watch the entrance so we don't get caught. Sirius, you coming?"

Sirius nodded at once. "You'll be fine down here?" he asked the others.

"I'll be outside," Peter said. "See if they come home."

"And if they do," James said. "We'll distract them down here."

"Merlin," I muttered. "Please be careful."

"Sure thing, princess," James said, grinning widely. "Now, hurry off, collect your things."

I headed up the staircase, Sirius following on my heel.

"We better hurry," he said. "It's already half past eleven."

"Sure," I said, speeding up a bit once we had reached the right floor. I found my room to be just the same as I had left it. I wondered if they had ever entered it or if they just pretended that it didn't exist. Just like they pretended that I didn't exist.

We started to put all my stuff into the bags that we had brought; enlargened by an Undetectable Extension Charm Sirius had placed on them.

"Do you need this?"

I looked up to see him holding a copy of the Tales of Beedle the Bard. "Yes."

"What for? It's a kid's book."

"Once I have children I'll need it again."

Sirius frowned at me, but didn't protest any further, dropping the book into the bag.

Before long, we had collected everything and were ready to head down again.

"Ten minutes," Sirius said. "We can still make it."

"Sure hope so," I said and froze. "Do you hear that?" I breathed.

There was the unmistakable sound of footsteps on the hallway. Sirius met my eyes, shock written in his.

"We need to go," I said and opened the door, trying to locate where the steps where headed. "We've got to split," I told him.

Sirius shook his head. "I'm not leaving you alone."

"Yes, you are. You go back where we came, I know another way. I'll meet you in the hall."

"No, love, no way-"

"Go!" I hissed as the footsteps became louder. "I'm not joking. Go."

Hesitantly, Sirius turned and I repeated, "Go!" before turning around and running off in the opposite direction. I would just use the servant's staircase and leave through the kitchen. No one I would have to fear would use those stairs...

"What are you doing here?"

My eyes widened in fear as a figure stepped out of the shadows, blocking my way.

"Evan!" I breathed. My hand curled around my wand, ready to wipe it out and stun him if he so much as took another step towards me.

"I asked you a question," he said coldly.

"I collected my belongings," I informed him.

"You have no right to be here," he bit back.

"They are mine," I said. "I have every right to get them."

"So you break in, you and your little friends-"

I took a deep breath, trying to make myself taller than I was. "Get out of my way, Evan."

"And if I don't?"

"I will stun you. I'm done being pushed around."

Evan eyed me skeptically and I raised my wand. "Please, Evan. Don't make me do it. You're my brother."

Just then, the first ring of the bells sounded through the corridors. We stared at each other, frozen in place as the chimes continued. I saw Evan take a deep breath and with the last ring, he stepped aside.

"Go," he said.

"But-"

"Just leave," Evan growled. "Before I change my mind."

I hurried past him, just shortly stopping as I reached the next corner.

"Evan?" I called and he turned again, frowning at me. "Happy New Year."

* * *

**Leave a review, pretty please. With a cherry on top?**


	28. April 13, 1978

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. 5 reviews definitely leaves happy, so keep 'em coming, pretty please.**

**Just to warn you, after this, there will be one more chapter and then the epilogue and we'll be done - I love to finish things, even though it's a goodbye, at least for a while... Anyway. On with the story.**

* * *

Time was running fast in the next weeks. We were back at school in no time; nothing had changed there.

The Slytherins were largely ignoring me, which was a relief; the other option was direct hatred and I sure didn't want to deal with that.

In all the time, Reg hadn't looked at me once. But I had looked at him. I had seen the pale face and the rings underneath his eyes - was he even sleeping? He and his friends left the common room early in the evening and never returned before I went to bed. In class, Reg stared ahead, and I wasn't exactly sure if he was really _there_.

The Gryffindors were a lot better these days. With the new year, Marlene McKinnon had finally returned to school. After almost a year, the effects of the Imperius Curse placed on her had finally worn off. I wondered if whoever it had been had released her, or if it was a normal development. Either way, Marlene looked as good as new. She had come to me, that first night with a shy smile.

"I want to thank you."

"For what?"

"Stunning me... stopping me from hurting Lily. I kept thinking - what if you guys hadn't been there to stop me..."

"It wasn't your fault," I said automatically. "You've been cursed."

She'd been cursed all right. Cursed by Reg's friends... She had thanked the boys as well and the look on Sirius' face told me that he had thought the exact same thing. We were the last ones to leave the library that night and once alone, Sirius had started pacing up and down.

"You know," I told him. "You can't help it. You can't make him do the right thing. He has to do that himself."

"He's such an idiot!" Sirius exploded. "A Death Eater! And how can I - how can I not... try to stop him? I thought, I thought, maybe he'd change for you. He _loved_ you. But now? Now I just... I just don't know."

I got up, reaching for him. "It's going to be all right. He'll come to his senses."

"But - how, he's... ugh. I hate this."

"He'll make it," I promised. I wasn't as confident as I tried to sound – but I couldn't imagine that Reg had no chance to be redeemed. Even my brother had just shown that maybe, there was a chance for him. And Reg was a better man than Evan by far. My brother, I thought, had only done it for his sister. "After all," I added slowly, "There is nothing more important than family. You're going to be the one to save him from himself. It won't be because he loves me. It'll be because he loves you."

* * *

By March, even James and Sirius had started studying for their NEWTs. Lily and Remus, of course had started months before, claiming that they would never pass if they didn't. Naturally, it was ridiculous to assume that the two of them wouldn't pass. Peter, on the other hand, would certainly fail a few subjects. He had never been quite that good.

It led to scenes, though, that made me mostly sad. Lily and the boys, hidden behind their books, only glancing at me once in a while with an apologetic smile. And me, long finished with my homework, waiting for them to pay attention to me again, for, as selfish as it sounded, nobody else did. I didn't even know what I would do when, after the summer, I would have to return to Hogwarts on my own. They would be gone, out into the world, into the real life. And I would be left alone.

* * *

I was on my way to Potions class. Professor Slughorn had us brewing the Draught of Living Death, a very tricky thing that I didn't look forward to at all. It was arduous and required a lot of concentration for the results would be very ugly if you messed it up.

I passed the entrance to a smaller corridor, just throwing a quick glance

into it. I stopped, frowning and took a few steps backwards after having already walked past.

There I saw Avery and Mulciber, standing in front of the much smaller and obviously weaker Peter; pale as ever, he stuttered something so quietly that I didn't even understand.

"Hey!" I said loudly.

Three heads turned to me, Peter's pale eyes widening. "Selene!" he squeaked as Avery took a menacing step towards me.

"What do you want, _blood-traitor_," he sneered.

"Sod off, Avery," I bit back. "Leave him alone."

"Ooh, little girl's protecting you, Pettigrew?" Mulciber grinned dumbly at Peter, who opened his mouth to say something, but didn't manage to make a sound.

"Okay," I said. "Get out of here. Both of you. Don't make me curse you."

Avery chuckled. "I'm _so_ afraid..."

"_Levicorpus!"_

Avery was lifted into the air, upside down, arms and legs thrashing as he tried to free himself, but it was no use. Being friends with James and Sirius certainly had the advantage that you learned to do this kind of spell pretty easily.

"HEY!" Mulciber exclaimed, "Let him down!"

"I will if you get out."

"You little-" He was sprinting towards me, but I was prepared.

"_Tarantallegra!" _Instead of running as he had intended to do, his legs started wobbling and I grinned at him. "Sorry, but you didn't listen."  
I stepped towards Avery, who stopped fighting the jinx as I smirked at him.

"Will you leave as I told you to?"

He glared at me, but growled, "Yes."

"Good," I stated, "_Liberacorpus."  
_

Avery fell and landed on the floor in a heap. He scrambled to his feet and took off as I smiled broadly at Mulciber. "Off you go after him. _Finite._"

Mulciber, too, rushed out and I turned to Peter. "You would think they'd have more balls, potential Death Eaters and all..."

He nodded, eyes still wide.

"Are you all right, Pete?" I asked. "What did they want?"

"Fine, I'm fine," he muttered. "They were just... you know, the thing they do...

"Yeah," I said. "They're idiots."

He nodded again, whispering, "Th-thank you."

"Oh, no big," I told him. Just thought I should help."

"Right, right... class now," he added hesitantly.

"Bloody hell," I exclaimed. "Potions!"

I turned and rushed off. Professor Slughorn sure wouldn't find my lateness funny. The Draught of Living Death was waiting for me.

* * *

It was one of the first very nice days in the year and therefore, after I had somehow survived my Potions class, I had decided to take my homework outside into the sun. Lily and the boys were probably inside, hiding behind their books again, but I had no desire to join them.

I was trying to translate the Runes for the lesson tomorrow; it was hard work, but fun. I was probably one of the very few who really enjoyed Study of Ancient Runes.

"Hey."

I looked up and raised an eyebrow as Maia sat down next to me cross-legged.

"Hey," I repeated and she grinned.

"My brother complained to me. Said you jinxed him."

"Well," I defended. "He and Mulciber were threatening Peter..."

"Pettigrew?" she asked. "He's a seventh-year. Shouldn't he be able to defend himself?"

I shrugged. "Does it matter? He needed help and I helped. Your brother is an idiot. No offense. My brother's just the same."

"At least your brother's good-looking. Mine doesn't even have that to make up for it."

I chuckled and Maia grinned back at me. Almost like olden times, I thought, and that thought brought me down to earth pretty quickly.

"Aren't you afraid that they'll see you with me?"

"Don't want to be seen with me?" she challenged.

I rolled my eyes at her. "'course not! I'm just worried for you, is all."

"They're all busy. Callie and Basil are off being preoccupied and no one else would come looking for me."

"Callie and Basil, still," I observed. "Have they announced the date, yet?"

"Actually, they have," Maia said and I sighed. Merlin, Callie lived in the same dorm as I – shouldn't I have noticed that she got engaged?

"Christmas holidays, they said. Callie wants a wedding in the snow. Merlin knows why."

"She's always been one for dramatics," I said.

It was a strange feeling, hearing this. For years now, I had been sure that I would be there the day that Callie got married. That I would maybe even be her maid of honour. The three of us, Callie, Maia and I would plan the wedding for months, thinking of every possible scenario, the best and the worst. And that we would celebrate, together. Now, all this was happening without me.

"Yeah," Maia said into the silence. "She was."

"You know what," I said, gathering all my books and papers. "I'm going to head inside. Go to the library and whatnot."

She smiled weakly. "Sure," Maia said. "I understand."

I sighed and turned towards the castle, stopping with a sudden determination. "Maia," I said, turning around again. "If you ever decide to... get out... you just let me know. Then we'll find a way. Together."

She nodded, still smiling slightly. "I know, Selene. I know we would."


	29. June 25, 1978

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and to Cassie-D1 for adding me to her community, even though I never even mentioned Hermione in this fic ;) **

**Also, this is the last "real" chapter, a very short epilogue will follow tomorrow. Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

The broad grin on James' and Sirius' faces could only mean one thing.

"We passed!" Sirius exclaimed, pulling me into a celebratory hug before the two of them started chanting, "We passed – we passed – we passed..."

Lily appeared, smiling as well. "I passed."

"Of course you did," Sirius said, looking over to her. "If you hadn't passed, who would?"

Lily blushed but got spared the answer as James pulled her close and kissed her. I turned to Sirius, smiling at him. "Congratulations."

"Congratulations are in order," another voice said from behind us and I looked over my shoulder to see Remus join us. "I passed."

"Where's Pete?" I asked him, looking around.

"He went in after me, he'll be up soon. He was stuttering and shivering all over the place," Remus informed me. "But I'm pretty sure that he'll have passed. He's not _that_ bad."

"No, he's not."

As if on cue, Peter appeared, still red as a tomato, but at least he seemed somewhat relaxed.

"I made it."

Lily hugged him. "Knew you would make it, Wormy."

If possible, Peter blushed even more furiously and seemed more than grateful when Remus suggested going up to the common room. "We're planning a party, remember? It's time to celebrate."

* * *

And celebrate they did. It seemed the whole common room was up; around midnight, I frowned at a few first years and got James to send them up to bed. It was for the better as it turned out; about half an hour later, Professor McGonagall walked in and harshly told us to end it. Her gaze landed on me and she frowned disapprovingly but didn't say anything. I sighed in relief.

Once the teacher had disappeared, James ordered the others to turn the music on again. "But not that loud."

I saw Lily talking to him, obviously trying to convince him to just let the party end, but he wouldn't have it. I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to Sirius.

"These two," I muttered and he chuckled.

"They're never boring, that's for sure." His expression suddenly sobered, and he looked deep in thought. "I would've never thought that they'd get together eventually. Sure, James tried for years, but I never thought she'd eventually give in."

"I'm glad she did. They go well together."

Sirius sighed and nodded. "He wants to propose."

My head snapped to him. "What?"

"He told me yesterday. As soon as he can, he'll buy a ring and ask her."

"They're only eighteen!" I exclaimed. "Oh Merlin... this is... it's amazing, of course."

"If she says yes," Sirius muttered.

"Of course she'll say yes," I said. "She's head over heels for him. Are you sure James has the balls to do it?"

"Pretty sure. I said the same thing and he said, _Padfoot, mate, I love her._"

"That's sweet."

"I told him he's a prat."

"Not so sweet."

Sirius laughed again and wrapped an arm around my waist to pull me into him. "I can be very sweet if I want to be."

"You're all talk and no do."

He glared at me, mock-offended and bent down to plant a kiss on my cheek. "You'd be surprised."

"Yeah?"

"Definitely."

I turned further to him and buried my head on his shoulder. "I'll miss you," I whispered as he wrapped his other arm around me, too.

"I'll miss you, too, love."

I looked up to him. "I'm so worried that you'll go and get yourself in trouble..."

"I'm never getting myself in trouble."

"Yes, you are. All the time. Just last year, you almost go captured by Death Eaters."

"Won't happen again."

"Promise me?"

"I promise. I swear, sweetheart, I'm going to be fine."

"You won't go searching for trouble?"

"Trouble always finds us, not the other way 'round."

* * *

I was sitting in the courtyard, eyes closed and my face turned to the sun. Next year, I figured, I wouldn't have so much time to just enjoy the warmth; next year, I would be the one buried behind her books in preparation for the N.E.W.T.s.

"Hey there." Sirius sat down next to me, smiling.

"Hey."

"Doing good?"

"Sure," I answered, frowning slightly at his nonchalant question. What was he up to?

"I been thinking," he started. "Since you didn't think me sweet..."

"Of course you're sweet."

"I know, but still I feel the need to prove myself."

I chuckled. "Oh, please, have at it."

"You know, my uncle Alphard, he left me a considerable amount of money."

"So I've heard," I said, remembering all too well that Reg had stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas, afraid of life at his home...

"Yeah, so I decided that I wouldn't bother Mr and Mrs Potter any longer. No need for it, see?"

"I'm not getting your point."

"I'll buy myself a flat. Some nice, cosy place," he explained. "I'll move out."

I opened my mouth, trying to find the right words. So he wouldn't return to the Potter's? "What exactly is sweet about that?"

"I'm getting there. See, I thought... I thought maybe... maybe you'd want to move in with me."

My eyes widened. "I – I don't know what to say."

"Just say yes."

"Sirius! Of course it's yes." I threw my arms around his neck, pulling him close. As I let go of him, he ran a hand through his hair, obviously embarrassed.

"Merlin, I've been nervous."

"Why?"

"Didn't know if you'd say yes."

I leant forward and pressed my lips to his. "You should have known, silly. I love you."

I froze, as he did, when these words escaped my mouth. I hadn't planned to say it, would've probably been too nervous to if I had – but now they were out and I couldn't take them back. I stared at Sirius, heartbeat picking up. Had I pushed him away now? Shouldn't I have said it? Didn't he-

"I love you, too, princess." He pulled me closer to kiss me again. "Merlin, I do."

* * *

I darted down into the common room, searching for a few books. Right before the holidays, I always seemed to spent hours searching for lost things; they usually turned up all right, but it was always stressful.

"Searching for these?"

The books appeared in front of me and as I looked up to see who handed

them, I met grey eyes and a stern expression.

"Yes. Thank you, Reg."

He huffed and let go of the books as I took them from him.

"Been searching all day already," I added for good measure.

"Figures. You always do."

He turned around to head away, but I called after him. Couldn't let him go away, not when he finally decided to talk to me again. "Are you all right?"

He whirled around, glaring at me. "What do you think?"

"I don't know," I answered. "That's why I ask you."

"I'm fine," he growled. "Just peachy. It's how you feel like when you get cheated on."

"Reg-"

"I don't want to hear it. Honestly, Selene, I don't want to hear any of your excuses. You just go ahead, move in with my poor excuse of a brother and-"

"Wait," I interrupted him. "How do you know?"

"Word's spread all over school. One would've thought you'd have even a bit of dignity-"

"Shut up," I said loudly. "Shut up, Reg. You don't have any idea-"

"I have every idea!" he yelled. "Of course I do. I live the same life that you had, only I wasn't a coward and stayed. And I tell you," he added, suddenly quiet. "Staying is so much harder than running away."


	30. Epilogue - September 1, 1978

"I don't want you to go...," Sirius muttered.

"I know," I said, smiling lightly. "But you'll be fine."

"I'm more worried about you."

"About me?" I repeated, shaking my head. "You're the rebel, risking your life..."

It had been one blissful summer. Sirius had bought a flat and we had spent August renovating and setting it up. But Sirius hadn't made good on his promise not to search for trouble. I had heard no end of the Order of the Phoenix – obviously, Professor Dumbledore had founded an organisation to fight the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters. Ever since we had heard of it, Sirius had been determined to join. _'I could never live with myself if I didn't do something'_, he had told me. _'I've got to fight.'._

"I'm not risking anything," he answered. "I can take care of myself-"

"So can I," I said. "Stop worrying." I leant up to kiss him. "I'll write to you first thing tonight, okay?"

"Okay," he answered, pulling me closer for another kiss. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too."

I pulled away, still forcing myself to smile. "I love you," I said, turning around and heading towards the train.

"Love you, too," I heard him mutter.

* * *

I watched as the owl disappeared into the night, off towards London where he was waiting for any sign from me. It was strange, being alone here. Maia had granted me a smile, while no one was looking, and I figured that we would somehow grow closer again during the next year - but it wouldn't be the same.

I heard footsteps on the stairs and turned around to see who was coming. My eyes widened slightly and I straightened up, prepared to just ignore his glare. Reg stopped as he saw me, and sighed, relieved. I frowned at him as he took a deep breath and said,

"I need your help."

* * *

**So, there you go. As you may figure from this epilogue there will eventually be a sequel. I can't say when that will be, though - I've been planning the sequel for "Didn't You Know", too, and people are waiting for it, so it'll take some time.**

**Now, let's see. I've got a few thank yous to say :) Thanks to everyone who read this, fav'd, alerted and of course, to everyone who reviewed, which always means a lot to me.**

**Especially, I think I need to thank Gemelina23, FangedAssasssin, xxSiriusxxforeverxx, annaisadinosaur, Cassie-D1, kittyhawk09 and MsTonksLupin for reviewing repeatedly.**

**There. I'm done. Have a lovely day :) **


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